Chapter 2

Alexei’s Revenge
Alexei was stumped. He had been sitting in his mind for, what seemed like, months. He had managed to control this part of his mind, allowing Alexei to fly and manifest things so that he could enjoy himself. At the current moment, Alexei had decided to be in the war zone, similar to the one he was supposed to go to before Shade showed up.
The war had been raging, and Alexei was at the front lines, dug down into the trenches. Bullets filled the air from every end, making it almost impossible for anyone to get into no man’s land. Alexei was a star sniper though, picking off the gunners that controlled the machine guns.
Alexei picked off the gunners one by one, until they were all dead. Now Alexei had to give the order for the troops to go over in hopes that they could take the enemy trenches. “Alright men!” He yelled, getting the attention of every soldier. His voice boomed over the gun fire coming from enemy trenches. “Time to go over and take out the enemy trenches! Now fight for Arcadia!” The men yelled in return and everyone rushed out of the trenches.
The battle was bloody; the men rushing over the trenches were getting mowed down by the hundreds of infantry on the other side. Alexei was not worried though; he closed his eyes and thought hard. Before long, the enemy troops came out as well and the battle was fought hand to hand in no man’s land. Alexei laughed, since he knew that he controlled this battle.
Though he had fought many war scenarios, he was still eager to try out his new manifestation that he had recently come up with. With another quick thought, his men all died and the enemy was victorious. But Alexei jumped into no man’s land, this time with his new manifestation. He created himself armor, impenetrable, and deadly.
The armor was indeed the best thing he had created so far, or so he thought. The armor went from head to toe, attached with two blades coming from the wrist and shooting back towards his head. He did not have any guns equipped, since there was no need in wasting bullets, no matter if they were imaginary or not.
The soldiers looked at him in awe. At first all Alexei did was laugh, until the soldiers looked to each other and then began firing upon Alexei. The bullets bounced off his armor and shot into different directions. After a couple of rounds, the soldiers gave up and proceeded to draw their swords in hopes that it might be the key to beating Alexei. As they charged, Alexei chuckled a little and charged in return.
Alexei was quick and dangerous. As the first soldiers came into range, Alexei’s blades twisted so that the long swords were pointed outwards. He lunged, allowing his two blades to sink deep into two of the soldiers. Without any hesitation, Alexei yanked his blades out, and continued onto the other cattle.
After about two hours of fighting, Alexei had massacred all the enemy soldiers and he was proud of his creation. He closed his eyes and allowed the battlefield to turn back into the darkness of his mind. Alexei did enjoy the battle simulations very much; however it wasn’t very satisfying considering the fact that he could not manifest a single voice so that he could have someone to talk to.
He was still sad, and always remembered that dreaded day where he was locked up in this place without anyone to talk to. Alexei thought for a moment and realized that he had no idea why he had let Shade take over in the first place. All he could remember is that he had lost hope but not what for. Without thought, he dropped to his knees and began to cry once more. Alexei had done this often but this time it took more out of him.
“What the hell is wrong with me,” Alexei said, slamming his fist onto the ground. From what Alexei could remember, he had grown to become a powerful man. He wasn’t sure how long it had been but it seemed like he had indeed become a grown man. Alexei stopped crying and stood up. Something had stirred in the darkness and it caught Alexei’s eyes.
A figure appeared out of the darkness. Alexei could not make out anything of the person or thing since it had a hood over it. “So you’re Alexei? I had expected a little bit more from the Brave, but what the hell,” it had turned out to be a male, maybe still in his teenage years.
“Who the hell are you and how did you get here?” Alexei demanded, manifesting his armor in case of a battle. The figure had only waved at him to show he only meant for peace, but this did not encourage Alexei to take off the armor.
“Well my name is Steve and if you’re wondering how I got here, well let’s just say I know my way around.” I lifted my hood off and revealed my face to Alexei. “I’ve been dying to meet you, since are paths are about to intertwine.”
“Intertwine?” I could tell that I had confused Alexei and that gave me more power during the conversation.
“Yes intertwine. I come from planet Earth and I am the ‘diplomat’ of the present as we have been come to be known. Anyways that’s not the point of why I have come to talk to you.”
“Really is that so Steve?” Alexei began to move off to the left but still in no mood for talking.
“You know with your attitude towards me, you’re lucky I even decided to come. Also to think that you have not had anyone to talk to so I suggest you take up my offer as a friend and actually talk with me.” Obviously Alexei was still corrupted from the take over and all his war scenarios I had watched him simulate.
“Alright fine, but don’t think that since I will talk to you that I am your friend.” He was very stubborn.
“No need to be friends. But might I suggest you get out of your head for once and take control of your physical world?
“Physical world? I handed that over years ago to some guy named Shade. And no, I do not plan on taking it back.”
“You’re very stubborn. I didn’t think you would let the girl you love to just die out in war without any consideration to it whatsoever. Or maybe you have forgotten about Rachael?”
“Rachael…” I struck a cord in Alexei. He had not remembered that name in a very long time and he had finally begun to remember everything about her. How he had always loved her, and how she had hurt him right before the war. At the very sound of her name ringing through his head, he allowed his armor to wear off. He dropped to his knees yet again allowing the new remembered thoughts to flow through his head.
“I know it must be hard Alexei, but you have no choice in the matter. If you don’t save her, then everything that you had lived for is lost. And not only does your dignity die, but so does your world. So does Rachael.” I took a few steps towards him but he did not look up.
“Why would I want to save her Steve? She hurt me, even Shade says so.” He looked up at me and the pain he felt entered my own body and I began to feel sorry for him.
“Shade has lied to you but I cannot explain who he is right at this moment. First you need to get out of here and save Rachael. You love her no matter what you say and nothing can change that.”
“Even if that is so Steve, it’s been years and the war is most likely over.” He said, his tone was very low. I could now at this point feel his lack of hope and I knew that the connection me and him had meant that he was the chosen one of this world.
“It has only been a few weeks. You have indeed aged, but your physical body has not. I urge you to return Alexei.”
“I cannot begin to understand you Steve,” Alexei chuckled. “Tell me then Steve, how does one go about getting out of this hell?” He rose to his feet, a new wave of hope flowing through his body.
“I guess you were easier than I thought Alexei,” I had hoped that he was going to be ready for his old life back, however, we still had Shade to deal with and I could not be there to help him.
“Easy eh? Trust me my friend, I’m a lot darker than I appear,” His armor appeared over his body again, only this time he did not manifest his helmet.
My time ran short with Alexei and I was kind of sorry that I could not really prepare him for the battle. My own world was calling for me back and I needed to return to my reality. But before I had left, I gave Alexei a small book. In the book was all the details he needed in order to throw Shade back in here and defeat him to take his body back.
The book was special and was given to me by a sage from the Order. From what I had been told, this sage had broken off the Order to create something in hopes the Order could not continue with their plans, however, he were short on information when it came to what he was trying to accomplish or to what the Order was truly up to. But he had told me that I would know in due time if I was the ‘Chosen’ one, whatever that means. I gave my final good bye to Alexei and took my leave, venturing back to my own world in hopes that he would find the bravery within himself in order to vanquish Shade. I did know nothing of him except that he was one of ten that we should worry about.
Alexei began to open the little book up and noticed it was bigger than he had thought. He read through about a page before he realized he could just say he knew the book and it would instantly become true. He closed his eyes and imagined himself reading that very book at an insane speed, finishing it in a minute. Exactly as he imagined it, it happened in his reality. The book was fairly simple to him and it taught him more on how to control his manifestations. He wanted to thank whoever gave me the book in the first place but he thought he was never going to see that person so there would be no point.
Now with his new found knowledge, Alexei began to plot his revenge to take his body back from Shade. He knelt down and focused all his thoughts into bringing him back into this realm. At first it began to work, but his mind started to wander on to different things and his concentration was broken, severing the connection he had with the outside world. “Damn,” he said to himself and he began to try it once more.
This time, he breathed deeply and focused all his thoughts on opening that connection. The first part was easy; he had to create the connection which he believed was fairly simple. Now was the hard part, he had to keep his mind focused on sending Shade into Alexei’s domain. After a half-hour he managed to successfully create the connection and then proceeded to bringing Shade in.
He got up and walked over to the connection portal, where he was able to see all the things happening outside his mind. He was in the heart of a battle; all the troops had prepared to go over into no man’s land along with Shade. The men rushed out yelling at the top of their lungs. Alexei’s sudden instinct allowed him to grab Shade and send him flying into the realm of darkness. In the physical world, Alexei’s body lied limp in the trenches, but it had not been shot.
Shade got up and dusted himself off. “You son-of-a-bitch, what the hell have you done,” Shade had said.
“Taking my body back and I’m going to kill you for tricking me,” Alexei replied. His armor was still covering his body, but he allowed his helmet to form over his head. Shade laughed and armor similar to that of Alexei’s took its place over Shade’s entire body.
“Alright then pretty boy, let us see if you have managed to learn a thing or two in this damned place. And if you haven’t, I get the honor of having fun before I condemn your body to hell.” He drew his blades and he rushed inwards at Alexei.
Alexei was only half-prepared. He managed to deflect the attack from Shade but had barely managed it due to the fact that he had not faced a foe with the same armor specs as his. Blow after blow, Alexei dodged and blocked, until he had got the hang of the battle. In an instant he turned the tide of the battle and it was his turn to deliver the blows. To Alexei’s amazement, Shade was not a better fighter than he was. In fact, he was less of a problem than the manifest soldiers he had created to keep himself occupied during his imprisonment.
Alexei drew back for the last time and shot his blades into Shade’s body. His blades cut through his armor as if it was butter and struck through his body and out the other side. “Ha, you see Shade, I have learned and now you are the one who will die here, not me,” Alexei said drawing his blades from his opponent’s flesh.
Shade staggered back, blood coming from his open wound. He looked down at it and then back up to Alexei. To his amazement, Shade was laughing. “You don’t get it you idiot. I lived here for years and mastered the art of manifestation. You cannot hope to defeat me in my final form!”
Shade dropped to his knees, his body starting to turn into a liquid. After a minute, Shade was a puddle. Alexei had just laughed at this and began to walk away, not noticing that this was part one of the transformation. By the time Alexei was able to turn around at his new enemy, he was staring into the eyes of a dragon. It was a huge ferocious beast and was covered in fire.
The dragon struck Alexei with its front foot, sending Alexei flying through the air. Using a lot of concentration, Alexei had managed to stop dead in the air. He flew back at the beast but no matter how much he tried, he could not defeat the creature. The dragon was invincible to him and Alexei soon wore down. It was not much of a fight and soon Alexei was pinned underneath the dragon, near death.
Alexei gave up hope and waited for his death to come, but a voice whispered in his ear and a spirit took Alexei’s body over. It pushed the dragon off and squared up against the gigantic beast. It snarled and went in for an attack. The new Alexei was quick to this and countered it in a fast counter strike. He drew his blade and clashed against the dragon with all of its force. The dragon continued to strike back and forth with the spirit.
The dragon’s giant claws came crashing down onto Alexei and he hit the floor with a large thud. But it did not stop the warrior. He got back up and went for the dragon’s neck, but not with his blade. The dragon realized his attempt and huffed fire at him, in hopes to kill the man in one burn. It did not work, and instead it only made the spirit angrier. He continued his strike at the dragon, grabbing it by the neck and beginning to choke it to the best of his abilities. The dragon’s neck was indeed tough and therefore almost impossible to crush.
After a minute of a standstill, Alexei lost his grip and the dragon whipped him with his tail and send Alexei tumbling to the ground. Alexei rolled over about ten times before coming to a stop on his stomach. He attempted to get up but his ribs were broken and he dropped to the ground. In the air, the dragon grunted and the lunged towards the ground at a very high velocity. Alexei was still in pain and could not bear to move from his spot on the ground. The dragon slammed against his body and the ground, sending Alexei into a coma. The coma was short due to the spirit that dwelled in his body just before the fight began.
Alexei got up; this time the spirit was in complete control. Due to the spirit, Alexei’s white in his eyes turned blood red, to compliment his black eyes. He grew two times in size and his armor began to change once more into a body suit that resembled a demon from hell. The dragon did not miss a beat, and instantly changed his form back into Shade, who was the same size as the new Alexei and with the same type of armor. The only difference was that Alexei’s armor was sapphire black and Shade’s was a ruby red and they both had different emblems on them.
Shade was the first to strike again, sending Alexei flying through the air as before but only this time Alexei was able to stop a lot easier. This time it was his turn to strike and without hesitation, he lunged back towards Shade, colliding with him in the air. They both threw blows and blocks, no side managing to get the other one in a weak position. They were both locked in fierce combat until one punch from both sides sent them both flying away from each other. That did not stop the two warriors and before anyone realized it, they were locked once more but this time they were both attempting to push each other back.
No side was giving up, nor did any one of the two show signs of weakening. It was a stalemate, just as before. Not one of them talked, and yet they both knew what was going on in the other one’s mind. They both began to push harder, and started to get stronger. Faster and faster they grew, until they reached giant status. They had finally become two titans clashing it out in the darkness of Alexei’s mind. But Alexei had stopped gaining power, and Shade began to push him back. It seemed that even though they were equal before, Shade was once again winning.
Shade crushed Alexei’s hand and sent him into a state of pain. Shade gave a loud chuckle and threw Alexei straight towards the ground. Alexei was not able to stop this time, nor slow down. He hit the ground with an impact that could cause an entire city to collapse. Alexei did not move after that, and Shade realized his opportunity had come about. Without hesitation, he once more began to fly towards Alexei to deliver the final blow to end the fierce competition. But something caught his eye. Time slowed as he got near Alexei and he saw Alexei’s eyes open.
“Ha you bastard, I told you I would kill you,” Alexei said, holding his hand out. Shade could not do anything, and within a second his face was near the palm of Alexei’s hand. A dark black light came from the palm, and engulfed Shade. Shade peeled like a banana until there was nothing left of him. Alexei had managed to obtain his body back from Shade, and was now able to return to his own world.
He got up and limped to the connection portal, where he saw his body lying in the trench next to a guy who was trying to wake him. Alexei crawled through the portal and woke on the other end. The guy standing over him was no medic but was a common private that did not go over into no man’s land. The soldier had been attempting to get Alexei onto his back but Alexei waved at him to let him know he was alright.
“Sir, are you alright? You seemed to have entered a coma just now,” the soldier seemed worried but Alexei was not sure why.
“Yeah I’m alright, who are you?” He asked. The soldier gave a small chuckle at his words but then straightened up quickly.
“I’m private Riki, sergeant,” the soldier replied. He was obviously a comic and was exactly what the doctor ordered.
“Alright Riki, I’m tired so get me to a med bay and make sure your there when I wake up,” Alexei said, falling unconscious yet again today. He had fought a big battle against Shade and did deserve some rest.
He had new plans for tomorrow. He was going to find out about Rachael and save her from a death that was expected for a common soldier. He was not sure how he had become a sergeant but he was not complaining. I guess he had Shade to thank for that, but who will ever know?