"So, what makes you think the world is crumbling or coming to an end, or whatever?"
She grumbled as she twirled her hair around her finger.
"It's not a thought or assumption. I come from the future. I know what happens." I nonchalantly reply.
She comes to a halt.
"Do you? Could that be the reason you returned to this point in time?" Her voice was cold, like she'd just splashed me with a tub of frigid water.
I remained silent as we trudged along the concrete path. I could hear murmurs of the pharaoh in my head. Trailing thoughts of what I could have done better lingered in my head. Maybe she was right. The future couldn't be said to be certain. I was not God. I was not a director who controlled the whims of the universe, but merely an actor who played a part.
I think I was going crazy. I shook my head vigorously, then responded quickly.
Then again, silence filled the air. Silence proved her point.
"Am I being too complacent," I uttered those few words after a thousand years of fighting against myself, "or is this what I'm supposed to do to save the world?"
Truth be told, Evelyn and I had many conversations like this in the timeline before this one. Cold, yet refreshing, her words tended to sober me up.
However, in the future I was envisioning, this never happened. I was willing to be wrong all the time, if it meant I could save everyone.
"Perhaps, you are right. I hope you are."
One more step forward, and we would have been decapitated.
I intercept the razor sharp claw of the evolved ant by strengthening my hand with soul energy cauterised with courage. I beckon for her to stand behind me, as I carefully navigated away from Evelyn. Sparks ignited from the clashes of our fight, the ant delivering hooks and uppercuts in quick succession. Sweat beaded my forehead, as I was forced on the defensive to protect Evelyn. I saw her bound soul energy around her fist and feet as she readied to land a blow.
Her eyes were determined, her pupils a cool steely grey. "Teacher, I think I get "Courage" now."
With one kick straight to the ants thorax, Evelyn managed to cave one hole into its hard exoskeleton, with green juices oozing out of the wound. The ant scuttled to its feet, its mandibles waving around in manic anger, then lunged right at her.
Without a skip, I deflect its attack with a dual strike, then crush its mandible and cave its head in with a punch.
Its mandibles feebly twitching, the ant collapsed and viscous blood seeped out of its wound. "The nest is coming. We need to flee."
She snorted. "Right. Cause ants are social animals."
I pick up the broken mandible and stare her in the eyes. "The Pioneers. They are the culprits. They disrupt the flow to create these problems."
"But not because ants are social animals?" Evelyn said. "Because right now, you sound schizophrenic." Man, sometimes I really want to remove her from my team because of her sass.
I rolled my eyes at her then scoffed. "Okay, maybe you're right. But I believe they're under the influence of the Pioneers. At least, that's what happened last time. But we really need to get going- here, have your first weapon."
I tossed her the ant mandible, covered in a shiny coating of the ant's blood. Evelyn stared at me in disgust as she caught the mandible in her hand, then felt the sticky texture.
"Try channeling your soul energy through it," I said nonchalantly as I fixed myself another mandible blade.
The mandible lit up with soul energy, an orange glow filling the air as Evelyn powered the blade.
"Wait… I don't need any fancy technology then- " After a few seconds, she vomited on the ground, panting for air on her knees. I patted her back as she recovered slowly.
"You overexerted yourself in that fight. The technology is definitely necessary for our fights. Especially since the Pioneers have comparable technology that can rival our soul energy. We also need to make sure you learn more types of soul energy, so you can make full use of your power- "
I felt her hand press against my lips and her death stare.
"Quiet. Let me rest."
Then, she collapsed to the side of the vomit pile. I sighed and slung her over my shoulder, supporting her weight. The first stop I had to make, was as far away as possible from the West Area of the city. The first Pioneer would make his appearance then and slaughter most scientists in an attempt to halt our progress.
I ran quickly, avoiding the nests of ants and insects as I headed for the subway station. Climbing down the flight of stairs, I realised the entire platform was eerily quiet, save for the flickering of a few fluorescent overhead lights. No one was around.
I propped Evelyn up against a pillar and set her down on the floor, then gazed around the corridor.
There was a silhouette. It smiled at me and waved.
Then it disappeared.
Within one second, it spanned the entire distance of the corridor and struck a blow on my chest. I wheezed as I was sent crashing into a wall, the force knocking all the air out of my lungs. Next, I saw the blade glow a iridescent green.
Darn. I was hoping I didn't have to face one of the Pioneers yet.
I ducked below his strike narrowly, feeling the empowered strike's aura suck a little of my life force.
"Not too shabby, for a novice soul energy user. Too bad it isn't going to save you."
I drew the mandible from my belt, then faced him head on. Flashes of brilliant light shone as we exchanged blows, sweat dripping down my forehead.
The mandible showed signs of wear and tear already, while his blade seemed to be in top notch condition. I sweated profusely trying to keep up. I didn't want to use a big burst of soul energy, but I believed I had to do so.
I leaped a great distance, next to Evelyn.
"Lend me your soul energy, Evelyn."
Feebly feeling for my hand, she reached out and linked hers with mine. Energy filled my body, hybridising to form different shapes of energy.
I was aiming to create the most unstable formation, to detonate and kill the Pioneer.
In the five seconds he took to approach me, I manifested the tetrahedral structure of energy, after the compound cubane. With the difference in ideal tetrahedral bond shape 109.5 degrees and the actual bond angle in the cubic shape being 90 degrees, it creates a massive strain and repulsion between the soul groups and the central soul core, thus rendering the product wholly unstable and capable of extremely volatile explosions.
The Pioneer did not escape unscathed, with burn wounds on his soul. The attacks created by soul energy did not inflict damage on the physical body, but on the soul. This damage was irreversible.
"Impressive. I'll concede that you're ingenious in this regard. I will eliminate you another day. Ciao."
"Who said you were leaving alive?" The wounded Pioneer turned to face a fuming Evelyn, who felt the wrath of a critical strike on his soul core, which heavily fragmented it.
Gritting his teeth, the Pioneer shattered a small blue crystal, then vanished from thin air.
Evelyn was quiet.
"Take everything, it's important. We need all we can get, before the city turns to rubble." I was looting whatever he dropped.
She froze, then turned to me with a bewildered expression.
"What do you mean, turn to rubble. Aren't you supposed to be the, the messiah or something? Aren't you supposed to save everyone you can? What happened to that?" Her voice was thick with emotion.
"We still have those students and teachers stranded back in Lihua High! You think your 5 minute crash course was enough?"
She sauntered up to me and put her index finger on my chest.
"You think you can play god, huh? Well, count me out, because I'm saving them."
"That's not what I mean. The government will be able to rescue them in time…"
And she already left.