by The Eurostar
The Lost City of the Dragons, Peru:
Edulcore Cicciotto:
I smile when I see the expression on the face of Johnny Omicron, looking at his empty hand where just a moment before was the book.
Then he shouts, angrily, "The speedster!"
And the Arab, standing next to him, quickly says some arcane spell, and a very old-looking lamp appears in his hand. He kneels down, and from the lamp comes oil that covers the floor very fast.
Tobias slips, like he should never have done on a normal greasy substance. Falling, he throws the book at us.
I jump, AND THE BOOK IS IN MY HANDS.
There is nothing else now. The voices of my comrades, making a wall to protect me from the Omicron men, are very far and low.
The debris of the temple faded away.
Nothing around us. Just the book. And me.
And the dark dwarf. Months have passed since the last time I saw him. "Nur, nur," he shouts from his stage.
And I run, faster than when velocity was my job, my art.
My heart beats like a drum, it aches in my eardrums. My lungs are on fire.
I am flying. I never even noticed when I left the temple and took flight.
The dwarf in my head keeps speaking: "Od ot elba saw reven rehtom ruoy tahw did uoy!"
The forest, below me. The lake, the fountain. I land on the convoluted shape of marble and stone. I find a niche, a little niche.
Must take a breath, stop for a moment, focus. Can't run, must hide the book. Where, where?
How much time has passed? Seems an eternity.
The Latin of the book is easy under my eyes. I never was good at Latin, back at school. Yet, now I read it like it's my native language. Memories of adventures, of battles fought under the Imperial Eagle insignia....
I close the book, raise my head. Johnny Omicron is floating in mid-air, right in front of me. Jet powered boots keep him up. High-tech gear -- wonder if Hoods tech has spilled out of the society.
"Found a nice nest, sparrow?" he asks, his perennial smile making a joke of me.
I raise Ladnikia slightly. The man, almost unnoticeably, goes back a little.
"Hand me the book. Your friends aren't doing well down there."
I turn my eyes, still keeping Ladnikia straight out in my defense. It's right -- there is a furious battle below in a clearing between the jungle and the lake, and it's not going well. Even M'xy seems at bay, with the Sheik's magic being good enough to hold him. M'xy is clearly superior, but the wizard is experienced, and M'xy, without Danny to direct him, is not capable enough. And although Chance's luck has until now protected the heroes, the fire from Rose and X-Acute is like a wall. From what I see, it will be just minutes before the Omicron will prevail.
"I have no reason to have them killed. Hand me the book, and we will leave immediately!" repeats the Omicron leader.
I stand up.
"You want the book?"
"Just the book," he responds.
I open it, nonchalantly. Flip through the pages, like casually. But I know what to search for. I did find it before, while I was hiding.
I find the page. And read it, in a whisper.
The world disappears in a whirlwind. I feel like being stripped away from my body, right like I was preparing the Chicago revolt. But this time I FEEL THE POWER.
The world rotates fast under myself.
The oceans, the poles, the deserts, the swamps. And finally a dirty road, a big off-road car, and, inside, my comrades -- Grimm, Bell, Priest, Tayden. A bike follows them, a new face with a red demonic helmet. I whisper the words again, and the vortex sucks us all back.
And I am standing back on the top of the monumental fountain, twenty meters above the lake level, while the car lands abruptly on a nearby hill. Grimm and his team will soon enter the fray, leaving the Omicrons stunned and my friends relieved.
But from now on, that's their fight. I have other things to attend. I have a man to kill.
I put the book at my feet. I raise Ladnikia.
"Omicron, if you want the book, come here and take it."
The man produces his own sword. The duel can begin.