As the smoke created by the impact of the rod cleared, a figure emerged. He wore an all white jumpsuit that had black stripes resembling rods on it. He also had a pair of dull blue sneakers on and a mask resembling the skull of a tiger.
"Stay in the car and call for backup," I said, opening the door and jumping down the car.
"There's no way I'm letting you fight that killer alone," she replied, getting out of the car also.
"Now's not the time to be stubborn Lemon," I said as we walked to the front of the rod together.
"You forget Ezra," she said taking her coat off. "It's my job to protect you from yourself, besides, my assassin side has been feeling a bit peckish lately."
She took a fighting pose, pulling out her blaster and smirking, her eyes focused on the target ahead. The enemy seemed like he was a bodybuilder, quite large enough to be a wrestler. He clapped his hands slowly as he approached Lemon and I.
"Ezra Caster," he said. His rouge coarsed voice a firm confirmation that he was male. "I hear you've been hanging out with the wrong crowd."
There was something about that voice that sounded very familiar, and then the rods. Naturally, it would make sense that the enemy knew my name, afterall they have been going around killing those who apparently belonged to me. But I could not shake off the feeling that this particular person and I have a connection somehow.
"Who are you?" I asked, pulling out my blaster. "And what do you want from us?"
He scoffed, laughing a little.
"Ezra, Ezra, Ezra," he said, shaking his head. "Still as dull as ever."
"Are you one of them?" Lemon asked. "The Null Standing?
"Oh," he said with a serious tone. "Ratchina spilled the beans, did she? No matter, you all will be dead soon anyway, every last one of you imposters!"
Right at that moment he touched the rod pierced in the road and it disappeared, then he flicked his fingers towards us and out of nowhere the rod reappeared, coming towards us with incredible speed.
"Look out!" Lemon screamed, jumping on my body and pushing me out of the way.
The rod crashed into my hovercar, destroying it and the road behind it as far as a stone throw. Then it stopped after making a loud racket, loud enough to alert the Troopers who were still at the crime scene. Lemon was on my body, the wind blowing through her hair and some debris from my bursted car lying next to us. She gasped, looking at me with a smile.
"You alright there boss?" She asked.
"Never been better," I replied, grabbing her waist.
She looked at me flustered. "What're you…"
I pushed her off my body gently and stood up. "Now's not the time to be lying around Lemon."
I put out my hand and helped her up, but before she could get on her feet properly, a couple of rods appeared before us in close proximity. We didn't see them coming, but Lemon's reaction time was impeccable. As soon as the rods appeared before our heads she immediately created a forcefield before us, not a sturdy one, but strong enough to stop impact of the rods. We fell back down.
"I guess this is how he took Hannah down," she said, as we got back on our feet.
I exhaled, setting my blaster to maximum. "Hey! Only cowards hide behind surprise attacks!"
He had his hand in his pockets, standing there, next to the crater created by his rod.
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "But in a cruel world, you need to take every chance you get."
That was it. That sentence dragged forward the memory that was hiding in my mind, helping me finally remember why those rods looked familiar.
"I've heard those words be—"
BAM! Lemon had shot her blaster at him before I could finish my sentence, catching him off guard and destroying his skull mask. I looked at her, and she returned the look, shrugging.
"It's like he said, you need to take every chance you get," she said.
I smirked. "Nice shot."
"Thanks," she replied, looking at the enemy with a stern. "But I don't think that was enough."
"Of course," I replied, putting my blaster away. "It'll take more than a shot from a blaster to take him down. Isn't that right, Silas?"
The mask fell, revealing the scarred face of a man, his long white and black hair as it has alway been, braided down to his back. It was indeed Silas. He smiled, dusting off the remaining char of the skull mask.
"Silas?" Lemon asked, surprised. "Your Silas? I thought he was dead."
"Hmm hmm," I replied, arranging my fingers like a gun. "Apparently he's very much alive."
"As observant as ever, young Ezra," he replied, bending down and picking a piece of the broken skull. "Look how much you've grown."
He threw the piece towards us, and I immediately knew what was going to happen next.
"Watch out!" I screamed, pushing Lemon out of the way and falling on her body.
The thrown piece grew fifty times its size, almost taking our heads off. That was his ability, to increase or reduce the size of things. The use of the black rods was his signature move.
Lemon smiled looking at me as I laid on her body.
"I guess we're even," I smiled, getting off her body and helping her up.
"Flirting on the battlefield," Silas said, walking towards us.
I pulled out my finger gun, shooting a small, yet damaging energy bullet at him, but he swiftly dodged it, falling to the ground. The energy bullet hit a hover car not so far behind him and the car exploded into smethereens. At the point, the Troopers were storming, armed with their blasters up. The chief ran to the battle ground, his proton blaster a bit larger than the others.
"Silas?" His eyes filled with disbelief. "I thought you were dead?"
Silas bent his neck sideways, freeing his neck from its stiffness. Then he sniffed smiling as a long rod appeared in his hand.
"That's the thing about lies Edward," he said to the chief. "They're easy to execute!"
He threw the rod towards us like a javelin, but Lemon blocked it with a forcefield. In the midst of the commotion he attempted to retreat, but one of the Troopers screamed;
"He's getting away!"
At the sound of that, they began shooting their blasters ceaselessly, blowing things out of proportion, destroying buildings, and the road but not hitting the main target. Silas had quickly created a short wall baracade using a pieces of viritium glass from the debris of my bursted car, then he pulled out a whistle and blew on it. Instantly an individual in a whitish blue ominous coat appeared right next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. He smirked looking straight at me.
"Death to the imposter," he said. At that, they vanished. A teleportation ability perhaps.
The chief looked at me, and I him. We were astounded. Everything we thought we knew was a lie.