Chapter ??
Aiden felt the elastic feeling once again as he teleported through space and time into the far reaches of the milky way. As everything reformed around him, Bill was floating there waiting for him, evil smile glistening across his face.
"I knew you would come Aiden. It took you even less time than I was expecting which surprised even myself."
Aiden's face became very tense.
"How could you do this Bill. I don't understand after everything Ra has told and taught us, that you could side with Apocolyptica."
Bill instantly flared up. As he did a burst of energy left his body and the rings of the nearby planet disintegrated and blew off into space as snow would blow over a horizon.
"Ra is a fool Aiden! He has done nothing but lead us on this entire time! Apocolyptica came to me. He spoke the truth to me. Showed it to me."
Bill's body language eased.
"Aiden, please my friend at least hear me out. It's just like Ra said. Apocolyptica was always suspicious of normal humans. Even before his transformation he had bad feelings about the humans that had not experienced the unlocking of their minds. After touching the meteorite in Arizona, everything became clear to him in a split second. He realized that naturally humans are corrupt by nature. Apocolyptica and the rest of the council didn't just happen to develop the way they did. They were chosen because they were closest to that of their ancestors in their DNA makeup. They were chosen to be the future of a species on the verge of complete extinction. They were called the Zurokians. When he touched that meteorite, the human in him was expelled out of his body and he was pure once more. When he tried to explain this to the council, only half of them believed him. Ra claimed that the being that Apocolyptica spoke of had corrupted him and clouded his reality. Ra began the war against them and all of the battles Ra spoke to us of resulted from it. Ra has been twisting the truth to gain us on his side this entire time."
Aiden took a moment to absorb the information.
"Bill, if Apocolyptica is the one you believe is right, why would he want to destroy humanity. It won't just be me losing loved ones Bill. Your going to lose your family too."
The statement seemed to strike a nerve with Bill as his expression grew sad.
"I know and have accepted that Aiden. It is necessary as much as I hate the thought of it. Humans have diluted the Zurokian's DNA through centuries of evolution. There are very few that are salvageable. This includes you and I. Even though our minds are unlocked, our brain's wiring is too muddy to be considered salvageable to be made pure as Apocolyptica was. The others in the council can be salvaged, but they are from the earliest stages of humanity. Aiden, you and I must die with the rest of humanity."
Aiden was completely stricken with shock.
"Bill, surely your not serious. You honestly believe that humanity including yourself and I must all perish?"
Bill nodded.
"It is the only way Aiden. Humanity is a plague among the actual species that call the universe their home. We are an abomination that cannot be allowed to continue on. We must all die."
Aiden got angry this time.
"So your just going to throw your life away along with your own family's? Your going to wipe out an entire planet? All those children? What did they ever do to you to deserve such a fate? You lived on Earth and you know first hand that many of the people on that planet are good people! They become friends since they were just kids! They grow up together and go through school together! They get married and have children and build careers together! They learn to love each other as brothers, sisters, lovers, as family even though they have no connection to them by blood! There are people that would die for their families. They would sacrifice themselves to you or Apocolyptica, or any force threatening the ones they love just so that their loved ones would be spared. How could such selflessness be seen as corrupt and be met with the need to be exterminated? Bill, honestly if you were speaking of exterminating the actual corrupt it would make more sense, but everyone on the planet I can't stand for. I would give myself to save Mariya, my family, and even your family if that's what it took. I would give my life for you Bill, and I know you would do the same for me. I am still more human than 'Zurokian'. Am I corrupt Bill?"
Bill's stance didn't change. Bill's stare was intense and he nodded.
"Bill, if you honestly believe that after all that you and I have been through, then all there is left to do is stop you."
Bill got more tense than ever.
"Aiden, you could help me. Would you rather Mariya have a quick painless death by your hand? Or would you rather her die horribly to the Leviathan? We could at least spare those people from that death by offering them quick painless ones. After the task is done we could come right back here and finish this."
Aiden spat back.
"Or we could just save the ones worth saving Bill! I don't want to have to fight you. You have been my best friend since we were just kids. You're like the brother I never had. You speak of Apocolyptica being pure. If he is so pure why is he sending such a monstrosity to Earth to wipe out the planet? It sounds to me like the Zurokian that took him over wants to wipe out humanity because it threatens it. It is a dying species and the combination of human DNA and Zurokian DNA is on the verge of wiping out the original Zurokians. This Apocolyptica is as corrupt and selfish as they come. If it's not pure it must be destroyed is how it does things. Yeah, that sounds completely legit Bill. I am truly sorry my friend but I am drawing the line here. Ra was right. Apocolyptica has gotten to you and corrupted your mind like he did with the half of the council that sided with him. We are done talking about this. I won't allow you to harm anyone else!"
Aiden's neurons pulsed as he surged energy from his mind through them at a million times that of a normal humans. He focused the energy in his palms and threw it at Bill. Right before the mass of energy collided with him Bill quietly spoke one last thing.
"I am sorry Aiden. This isn't what I wanted. Goodbye my friend."
Bill snapped into action and slapped the energy to the side. It streaked through space and collided with the same planet as before. As it rocketed through the outer layer of the gas giant, it went deeper into the planets center. As it did this the gases of the planet began to ignite into brilliant blue flames. They swirled around the planet slowly igniting the rest of the clouds as the winds carried them around. The ball of energy collapsed towards the center of the planet due to the immense pressure the atmosphere was putting on it. The explosion instantaneously ignited the entire planet into a blaze of blues and white. The planet continued to spin throughout the fight till it imploded into nothing. Bill countered with a pulse of energy of his own. Unlike Aiden's, Bill's energy lashed out from himself towards Aiden but never left Bill's hands. He used it like a whip and slashed at Aiden multiple times. Aiden teleported left and right, up and down dodging each lash. Bill disappeared. Aiden had remembered his lessons with Ra and the idea of keeping an artificial atmosphere around himself to detect movement. He knew Bill had done the same. As Bill reappeared, he swung at Aiden with an energy charged punch at lightning speeds. Aiden reacted with equal speed and blocked the blow with his elbow. Aiden had focused energy to his elbow to the exact amount Bill had in order to counter Bill's blow. The shock wave from the blow sent them both flying in opposite directions at the speed of light. Bill pictured Aiden in his mind, and Aiden pictured Bill. They felt the elastic feeling and once again gave glancing blows to each other. With each blow they quickly made their way across the planetary system they were in. Aiden spotted a comet off in the distance a few hundred thousand miles away. He teleported there and focused his mental power to pull it out of its trajectory. He found Bill in his mind and threw the comet. Instead of him teleporting his mind teleported only the comet. This confused Aiden because he hadn't received lessons in teleporting other objects yet. In the split second he took to think about this the comet reappeared above him with an asteroid right below him. Bill had thrown an asteroid at him exactly how Aiden had thrown the comet, except that Bill teleported the comet back to Aiden so he would be crushed between the two. Aiden quickly pointed a hand at each object and let a pulse of energy out towards each. The comet vaporized into a blaze of ice and rock while the asteroid exploded into a million fragments. Aiden realized Bill's tactic. The explosions were caused near enough to Aiden as to ignite within his artificial atmosphere. The fire caused by the explosion sucked the air out of the pocket. Bill teleported in front of him grabbed him by the throat, teleported to another asteroid and slammed Aiden into it with all his might. The chunk of rock exploded and for the first time since Aiden's mind had been unlocked he felt pain. It was like nothing Aiden had ever felt. The energy burst sent through his body as Bill slammed him down targeted Aiden's mind specifically. It rushed through every sensory cell in his body until it hit his mind directly. His sight completely blurred for half a second and before he could react Bill hit him in the face with another energized punch. Aiden's body went screaming through space at a speed even light can't travel. Aiden knew he had to do something to restore the atmosphere around him and regain his ability to sense Bill. A split second later, it came to him. Aiden took another blow to the back as Bill brought both hands down at full force. Aiden focused his mind on solely recovering from the blow and quickly regained his composure. He pictured the star in the center of the system and teleported there. Once there he instantly pulled all of the gases directly out of the star that he needed to reform his atmosphere. Bill instantly appeared next to him and realized what Aiden had done too late. Aiden turned to put his palm directly in Bill's face right as he came back into view.
"Gotcha Bill."
Aiden surged all the energy his mind could manage and released it right into Bill's face. The massive explosion put an enormous dent in the star's spherical shape. Bill's body disappeared into the star and flew out the other end a second later causing a solar flare to leap out behind him. It trailed off after his body for thousands of miles. Bill's body came to a halt after just a few hundred thousand miles due to the immense mass of the star slowing him down combined with his mind pushing energy in the opposite direction he had been going. Aiden gave him no chance to recover. He knew the star took away his atmospheric protection and that he wouldn't have had time to recover enough to reform it.
He teleported to Bill and hit him in the back with a devastating kick. As Bill was slowing down Aiden teleported once more for another attack. To his surprise, Bill quickly turned and blocked the attack. He looked extremely pale and weak compared to when the fight had started. It suddenly dawned on Aiden what Bill had just done. He had taken the water from his own body and pulled a large portion, separated the elements, and reformed a small atmosphere around himself. Bill suddenly spoke up.
"You're going to pay for that Aiden. I have an agenda to accomplish and you're really starting to piss me off by staying in my way. We seem to be evenly matched in our abilities as far as the mind goes. Since I can't defeat you on that playing field, I am just going to have to switch tactics."
Bills smile grew wide and evil.
"Ill let you take a look into my mind so you can see it for yourself."
All of a sudden Aiden could see into Bill's mind. Bill was holding Mariya in his arms. He reappeared in front of Aiden and Mariya was instantly crushed under the immense pressure put upon her by being in space. He laughed menacingly and hurtled the remains into the nearby star. The vision clouded and dissipated. Bill disappeared. A surge of anger blew through Aiden's body much like his first encounter with Apocolyptica. It was different this time however. Everything slowed down to the point where time itself seemed to stop. Aiden's mind was functioning so fast that time couldn't match his thought processes. Aiden focused on Bill. He was already halfway across the Milky Way headed towards Mariya. Even at this slowed rate Bill was traveling across space at a tremendous rate. Aiden focused and was instantly at Bill's location traveling with him. There was a void of the elastic feeling he was accustomed to when he teleported. Bill had no idea Aiden was even there because of the shear speed he was moving. Aiden charged his fist and slammed it into Bill's jaw. The force of the blow knocked Bill back into normal space and time with such force that it made a shock wave equivalent to a supernova. The planets in the solar system had their atmospheres blown off of them and their surfaces baked at superheated temperatures. Bill had no time to recover as Aiden teleported straight to him and grabbed him by the throat. Time began to speed up again, but his anger still pulsed through him with the immense power it had revealed. Bill charged up to full power in a split second and went to uppercut Aiden in his stomach. Aiden easily caught his arm and forced the energy back into Bill's body. Bill's face was overcome with shock.
"How the hell are you doing this? How did you get so powerful out of nowhere Aiden?"
Aiden's face was adamant as he gave Bill a stare that should have turned him to stone.
"You say you have an agenda? Well I have one as well Bill. You are never going to hurt another person as long as I am living. It was a mistake letting me see your plans for Mariya. You promised me Bill! You told me god as your witness we would save her and as much as humanity as possible! How dare you try and kill her when she has done nothing to you! Now your going to die for even giving it thought."
Bill struggled and tried again and again to release energy in an attempt to free himself. Each time, Aiden quickly suppressed the energy back into Bill's body. Aiden began to charge the new found energy in his body. With their atmospheres combined, Aiden ionized the particles in the air and on Bill's body, giving them opposite charges. Bill saw what was coming and began to put a thin barrier around his entire body to absorb the upcoming attack. The artificial air crackled and turned red. Aiden released the energy and white hot lightning rained down in millions of bolts per second. It shattered right through Bill's barrier with ease and started zapping him in every single cell on and within his body. Bill's body began to convulse in Aiden's hand. The pain Bill was feeling was so immense that Bill screamed bloody murder out loud. His scream was so loud that it drowned out the crackle of the lightning bolts. Aiden let the process go on for a full ten seconds until he held a smoldering Bill by the throat. Aiden teleported to within a few hundred thousand miles of the nearest star, taking Bill with him. Aiden pointed an open palm towards the star. He focused all of his energy into concentrating on the star's core. Aiden closed his hand and the star instantly imploded. The gases sucked themselves towards the center of the start until there was nothing but a black hole left in its wake. Aiden looked Bill in the eyes one last time with a look of deep regret in his face before he threw him with all of his strength into the black hole. He watched Bill streak across the couple of hundred thousand miles until he disappeared into the black hole. Aiden concentrated once more with his palm open except on the black hole this time. When he closed his palm,the black hole along with Bill ceased to exist. In the moment where he felt Bill's presence vanish from the universe, Aiden's anger turned to sorrow. He instantly saw every single memory from his entire life that he had experienced with Bill. He saw the time him and Bill had first met. Then, he saw the time he and Bill first met each others parents. He saw many of his favorite memories from middle school. He saw them both walking across the stage to get their diplomas. The time when Bill first introduced him to Mariya. Bill as his best man when he and Mariya were married. All of their accomplishments and cherished memories flashed before his eyes. His body loosened up and he collapsed in a heap, lying there on absolutely nothing. As much as Aiden wanted to just lay there forever and mourn the death of his best friend, he knew he had to get to Earth and start evacuating all that could be spared. He pulled himself together and gave on last glance at where Bill's last moments had been. A single tear ran down his face.
"I'll miss you my friend."
He concentrated and vanished in an instant, on his way back to his home planet.