12 Years Later
On A Parallel Universe...
*********
"It's time..." Peter replied, his brows narrowing intensely as wrinkles formed on his temple. He took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing to speak.
"...for the biggest challenge of my life," he clenched his right fist and slammed the table with might. He took another deep breath and exhaled. He closed his eyes, delving deep into his core. It was a battle between the mind and the heart. Once the latter gathered the courage to overcome the scourge that was fear, his eyes shot open. He looked at his adversary, a bowl of ramen noodles.
The dish is combined with sliced boiled eggs, rich pork bone broth, several pork slices, and a dash of bamboo shoots, not to mention the cream of the crop, Carolina Reaper Chillies. It was chopped into several pieces, dispersed across the bowl of noodles that nearly towered over Peter's plump, round cheeks.
Ace, his Divine Guardian companion, sat across the table. His veins crossed his valley-shaped muscles, which arched firmly. He tucked the loose strands of his caramel hair behind his right ear. The few strands of hair joined the long chain of smooth locks cascading below his shoulders.
Ace rubbed his hands excitedly while Peter's pot belly rumbled like thunder.
"Are you ready?" Ace smirked.
Peter looked at the chopsticks next to his bowl and grabbed them with his fingers.
"I was born ready, baby, Woohoo!" He exclaimed as he stretched his hands in the air.
"Let the games begin," Ace responded with a deeper voice.
The two feasted on the large bowls of noodles without a moment's notice. They grabbed multiple batches of noodles with their chopsticks and shoved them in their mouths, slurping hastily. The mountain of ramen noodles shrank, now reaching Peter's chin.
They sat back on their chairs and opened their mouths, trying to catch their breath. Tears formed around their eyes as they turned red. A burning sensation melted their taste buds.
"Is the heat getting to you?" Ace smirked.
"Not a chance, Ace. Besides, you look like you're on your last feet. You should call it quits; I have the game won." He pointed to himself with his right thumb.
"We'll see about that," Ace retorted.
The two indulged savagely in their supper, like vicious beasts. As they slurped their noodles, their situation worsened. Ace's temple was watered with beads of sweat while Peter hissed continuously to alleviate the burning sensation. At last, they emptied their bowls, leaving a few birls of noodles swimming in a dam of gravy. As they reached for the remaining birls, their stomachs churned with defiance.
"Something's coming up!" Peter stated as he rubbed his neck and cocked his head up.
"Same here," Ace replied.
The vile bile and spew raced up their throats, they covered their mouths with their hands, and stormed out of their seats and into the male restrooms.
*********
They returned to their table and sat down. Ace leaned against his chair and grabbed a glass of beer. The gold pigment of the drink radiated, and small bubbles sprang from the bottom of the glass to the surface. The spring of bubbles floated under the white foam, perhaps to become a singular group.
He placed the drink between his lips and drank. He set the mug aside and fell back on his chair, resting his arms on the shoulders of the chair.
"Well, Peter, you took this challenge like a man. I thought you'd bail," he said, looking at the glass and admiring the drink.
"I'm glad I proved you wrong. I'm starting to like it when people underestimate me," Peter said as he grabbed a glass with a green fizzy drink.
"But seriously, let's never do that again," Pete scoffed. He sipped the drink.
"I've been thinking a lot lately about you," Ace said as he intertwined his fingers and drew closer to him.
Pete narrowed his right brow. "What about me?"
"Doesn't it bother you that you don't know the truth about your past and who your actual parents are?"
Pete smiled and looked at his fizzy drink from afar.
"It does. It's been a year now since I've been brought into this crazy world of yours. A lot of questions have plagued my mind. One of them is who of my first parents was my biological father or mother? How did one get down with a Utopian, and why am I a Divine Guardian?"
Ace brought the glass closer to his lips and took a sip. Afterwards, he pointed at him with his forefinger and gently shook the glass. "Do yourself this favor: try to find out who you are. I don't know, you could go to Utopia or something and get in touch with Ken Sou. I think he knows something."
"I already tried Ken Sou many times, but he keeps giving me lousy excuses that he is busy. I don't like nagging people. Think about it, if a person doesn't budge, why should I bother?"
Ace deepened his voice and responded after talking, "Persist with him. Keep on trying. He owes you the truth."
"I guess you're right," He added, chugging down the last contents of his fizzy drink.
"Thanks for stopping by, Ace. It's been boring since Kuhn Lau left," he sighed.
Ace then lowered his brows with curiosity, "Oh really, I wonder where he went off to?"
Pete sighed again and shrugged, "Who knows? He's been rather distant lately."
"Let's hope that he gets through whatever shit he's dealing with," he chugged down the last contents of his beer and set the glass aside.
"I hope so, too."
************
The crescent moon leisurely crept across the coal sky; the cold wind, not a day older, whispered through the forest trees, rustling their branches and leaves. The stars shimmered brightly from the angel's feet. They were like glitter, sprinkled on black canvas.
Across the forest floor, Kuhn Lau was spotted soaring across a spacious area. He flew backwards, however, his arms and legs stretched forward, opposite to the direction he flew. The long sleeve on his right was torn apart, exposing a fresh wound with blood spraying out.
He closed his eyes, his countenance was garnished with a field of grazes. He collided against a tree on his back and winced. He fell toward the ground and landed on his bottom, his legs stretched apart.
Kuhn Lau cocked his head up and opened his eyes, he grunted as an unidentified figure approached him. The figure stood within close range of him. In response, Kuhn Lau looked up and ran his eyes up his body, analyzing him. The figure's firm chest arched like a valley of hills. They pushed against his black sleeveless vest, making it difficult to spot his face. His arms were so burly that one would think he stored rocks under his skin.
The figure lowered his posture and easily wrapped his hand around Kuhn Lau's neck. He raised him. Kuhn Lau looked up to spot his face. This figure's head, though, was cloaked by the nightfall's darkness.
"Talk," the figure began in a deep, grouchy voice.
Kuhn Lau clenched his teeth, the lines of his eyebrows ceasing lower. "First, let me see her," he replied, his voice smoother than a pebble.
"No!" He roared. He continued, clarifying his statement, "You will see your precious Mother, once you do your part."
"For heaven's sake, what more do I have to do? I followed your leader's absurd orders. Wasn't distancing myself from the Divine Guardians enough?!"
The figure drove Kuhn Lau's back against the tree trunk. He landed a heinous heymaker to his gut with his left, unoccupied arm.
He looked down and spewed blood against the soil. He coughed, expelling more droplets from his mouth.
"You call our boss's orders absurd? Then you're a fool. Separating yourself from the Guardians isn't enough! They'll notice something is amiss, and when they do, it'll ruin our plan." The figure looked below him and spoke, his voice deeper and rougher than ever. He shoved his foot against his neck and pinned him against the trunk of the tree. He squeezed the last breath out of the poor lad.
"... Perhaps, we should end with her since you don't want to cooperate with us!"
"You wou..wouldn't dare!" Kuhn Lau snarled at him. However, he couldn't raise his voice high enough since the boot blocked his voice from bellowing.
"Try us. You have until a fortnight to consider. Or else, we will bring her head to you as a gift!"
**********
As the hour withered by, drawing closer to midnight, the raging wind howled even louder. The trees of the Hong Kong forest bent over to allow it to pass through. The force of the wind ripped more branches and leaves out of their trunks, pulling them into the relentless wind tides. Then suddenly, blue electric strokes flashed around the growing storm, perhaps complementing it.
In the storm's epicenter, the wind drastically changed its course and began moving spirally. Soon enough, an opening emerged from the center of the wind's spiral movement. A wormhole was formed, and it grew bigger with each passing moment.
Then, an unidentified figure stepped out of the wormhole and landed on the ground easily. The storm subsided, and the wormhole vanished in plain sight. It was Bianca Avery Mitchell.
The years were been kinder to her since she was fifteen. She was taller than ever, and her eyes shimmered like polished jewels. Her chocolate brown hair cascaded below his shoulders, embellishing her features. Her arms were slightly bigger than before, as she developed a layer of muscles. Her hips were wide enough that they helped mold her hourglass body. She spotted a military-like uniform which consisted of a brown tactical vest, be, and green camouflage trousers.
The emblem on the left side of her chest had the following initials, "B.T." The term for the acronym stood for "the Battle Troopers."
The individual scoured her surroundings, and when her hazel eyes feasted upon the lush green trees around her, she marveled. Where she came from, living green trees were a rare phenomenon. Many trees had perished, and only a few remained.
"This is it, there is no going back, Bianca," she responded. "According to Chao Li, I should find the Divine Guardians on this earth. Well, let's visit 'em."