The air felt heavy, as if the island itself was holding its breath, an eerie silence enveloping every corner. Something is amiss, and I couldn't help but feel a knot of curiosity forming in my stomach. Zahra walked beside me. She, too, senses the unusual stillness that blankets the island. Little did we know that our return would be met with such a puzzling situation.
As we traverse the deserted streets, our eyes widen with disbelief. The once vibrant and lively city is now desolate, its buildings eerily silent and devoid of life. It is then that we catch sight of the Zephyran, locked in combat with the Atlanteans. Upon seeing us, the Atlanteans tell us that we are needed in Cato's chamber.
With cautious steps, we made our way towards Cato's chamber, hoping to find answers amidst the chaos. The air crackles with tension as we push open the chamber doors, revealing the enigmatic figure standing before us.
"Cato," I breathe, relief washing over me at the sight of his familiar face. "What has happened here?"
Cato's ghastly floating energy eyes hold a mix of weariness and determination as he begins to explain.
He told us he was unable to teleport Zahra and I directly before him because his power was spread too thin beyond protecting Atlantis from the Zephyran invaders. He had to drop the forcefield just to let us in. When he did, the Zephyran got in also.
He implored us to join him in his mission to stop the Zephyran, their dark intentions threatening to consume the island, as he knows they are trying to destroy the Atlantis and himself once and for all. Zahra and I comprehended the gravity of the situation fully. We both nod in to him agreement. We know that the fate of Atlantis rests on our shoulders, and we cannot back down from this challenge.
As we fought with our Atlantean allies m, our path converges with Ivon, a former ally who has now succumbed to the Zephyran influence. Yet I doubted he was ever on our side to begin with. Ivon's half-baked backstory, disappearance on our first mission, and AWOL status during the civil war—It made me say only one thing to him…
"Traitor". My tone was angered and cold.
"You're fighting a losing battle, Oth!" He taunted. His words laced with venom. "Oh, but let's even the playing field, shall we?"
From the darkness behind him emerged Francis. Zahra tried calling out to him but he didn't respond. Then she knew that he was under the Zephyran's mind control.
Adrenaline courses through my veins as I engage in a fierce battle against Ivon and Francis. I focused Ivon, as I was full or rage and determination to end him. Before I could, Francis jumped in the way, fighting in Ivon's place. I didn't want to fight Francis so I held back. Francis, on the other hand, didn't. His strikes were with malice.
Cato's powers, bestowed upon me, had given me an edge, but the fury in Ivon's eyes is undeniably intense. Francis, trapped in his mind-controlled state, struggles to unleash the full potential of the power Cato granted him.
In a moment of chaos, the Zephyran release their hold on Francis as Zahra enters the fray with a well-placed energy blast, knocking Francis into a wall. He fell to the ground but found to be in a comatose on the ground.
Ivon, disgusted at how the mind controlled Francis couldn't step to us, retreated. Cato urged us to chase him. In the meantime, he was going to send out an S.O.S., hoping that mother would hear him. I was skeptic, knowing Erin was a galaxy away. Cato on the other hand, assured us that Erin has a way of knowing the wellbeing of all her children. How? That remained to be seen. Zahra stayed behind to look after Francis in his unconscious state while I ran after Ivon.
I raced through the winding underground caverns, my heart pounding in my chest. The sound of clashing swords, rapid gunfire and cries of battle filled the air as my fellow Atlantean allies fought valiantly against the villainous Zephyran. Our mission was clear— find Ivon and end him. I could no longer let this piece of treacherous filth exist any longer.
As I dodged a spray of fireballs, I couldn't help but wonder why Ivon had turned his back on mankind. What had driven him to betray his comrades and aid the very enemy we all sought to defeat? Determination fueled my steps as I pushed forward, the thought of confronting Ivon weighing heavily on my mind.
Finally, I reached a small chamber nestled deep within the caverns. There, standing alone, was Ivon himself. His eyes, once filled with warmth and camaraderie, now held a coldness that sent shivers down my spine. I mustered my courage and demanded an explanation.
"Why, Ivon?" I asked as my voice filled with frustration and confusion. "Why did you betray us?"
Ivon turned to face me, his expression unreadable. "Eric Lunningham," he replied, his voice laced with bitterness. "He offered me something the TTA couldn't."
My heart sank. Eric Lunningham, out of all the people? The mad doctor himself had enough power and influence to be unmatched, but I never suspected he could sway someone as loyal as Ivon. Then again, had he ever been? He was the reason why my father and Z'Rhana are still missing.
"What could he offer you that was worth turning your back on mankind?" I pressed, desperate to understand.
Ivon's gaze pierced through me, his voice carrying a weight of foreboding. "Othniel, you must understand. I am not from your future. I come from a future where neither the Evanstons nor their allies are alive."
His words hung in the air, a chilling revelation. Ivon's origins were shrouded in mystery, but his knowledge of a future where the Evanstons were absent was unsettling. Then I knew he had to be from Chris' timeline, not Silas'.
"And the Zephyran?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "Do they truly control Earth?"
Ivon nodded grimly. "Through Area 51, they hold dominion over our world. The power they possess is unlike anything you can imagine."
As the weight of his words settled upon me, a sense of urgency consumed my being. The battle against the Zephyran was not simply a fight for survival, but an effort to prevent a future that had been tainted by darkness and despair. Yet one question remained.
"What really happened to my father?" I asked him. That had burned in my mind, itching to be answered. I wouldn't rest till I found out what happened to my dad.
"Back then I was a different person." Ivon said. "I purposely kept your reality's Ivon and his family from ever coming to the space station but I can only prolong the inevitable for so long."
It felt like he was stalling, trying to sell me his stupid sob story of self-pity. I wasn't buying it. I repeated myself, angrier than the first time, screaming at him. That's when he told me.
"Time travel is an uncaring mister." Ivon said coldy. "Do too much for personal gain and your punishment will be divine."
With that being said, Ivon revealed to me that his entire team was lost to time itself. He believed it was divine punishment for trying to change history nefariously. Before Ivon met Eric, he was trying to do fix pre-colonial Africa, in making it a world power. After believing he was successful, Ivon returned to the present only to find matters were made worse. Furthermore, only he returned to the present. Josiah and Z'Rhana were nowhere to be found. Ivon believed some cosmic force condemned in some shape or form. He didn't bother looking for his old comrades. As penance, the General had him personally train the next TTA group, which was us.
I stood there in silence. My mind was at a crossroads. The heart told me to take my revenge but the mind told me what Ivon tried to do was noble. But another part of me took in account his misdeeds. He was allied with a mad scientist hellbent on multiversal domination. Ivon couldn't see that he was just a pawn.
"What makes you think you aren't expendable to him?" I questioned Ivon's loyalty.
"Cuz I knew how it ended!" Ivon sneered.
Knew how it ended? Those words confused me much. Then he clarified after seeing my look of bewilderment.
"Eric became no one in my reality and was deeply depressed after learning that our reality's Naira had his sister and all her children killed. I changed the past to prevent such a future by making this reality's Eric a survivor! In doing so, I made his sister one too!"
Now everything Ivon did made sense. Yet I couldn't excuse the fact that in the process, innocent people died. According to Ivon, his team was still alive but lost somewhere in time. My murderous rage subsided. I couldn't kill Ivon. Though he was an evil little crapper, still the fact remained that he was an enemy of TTA and a threat to many.
"Why aid this sibling rivalry then?" Another question arose—one that bugged me currently. This fight between two of the smartest scientists in our reality had gone far enough. It had to stop.
"Eric wants to be the Allfather of all alien races, including to those whom his sister created." Ivon answered. "Those who stand in our way will join the dead."
Suddenly, I felt this renewed sense of purpose. With it came a rage against not just one man but an entire culture—a genocidal elitist one. Ivon stood in the midst of one that believed one man's ideals reigned supreme. On the other side was his sister. She desired nothing of the sort. From what we knew about her, Erin was a humble human being. If she was nice enough to give Laura a new body, what would she do on a grander scale to one of her own.
TTA didn't know much about Eric but from what I learned from Ivon, the mad doctor seemed to be the real threat to our reality. Ivon was enemy number 2.
"Not in my nebula!" I growled valiantly. My voice boomed throughout the spacious chasm as a prepared myself to fight Ivon. I wasn't going to let the Atlanteans or any of Erin's children be killed.
Just as I readied myself for a fight, Ivon shook his head. He told me he lives to fight another day. All of the sudden Ivon teleported out. A short while later, I learned that the Zephyran were pulling away from the island. I returned to Cato's chamber to hear the details.