The Phantom Riser

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN - I’M COMING

Karenia was restless. He had said his illusionary world would last three minutes, but it had been way more than that. Did he lie to her for a reason, or was there something else attached? Either way, it was getting super annoying to wait, but there was nothing she could do about her current situation. She scanned through her surroundings once more, but still nothing. She wondered if Kiro might have been able to get out if he was the one that got caught. Well, knowing him, he would probably figure something out.

“Hey, aren’t you tired! I thought you said we’d be out in three!” she beckoned. Even though their conversations had been minimal, she was still unable to trace his voice. It was almost like he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“Well, we’re still here so, deal with it,” the voice snapped.

“But seriously, how are we still here?”

“Honestly, if Jovak didn’t personally request that I kept you alive, I would have killed you a long time ago. So, keep quiet before I change my mind!”

Karenia had a mischievous smile on. Kill her? Her? “Oh, that’s interesting. So, what’s going to happen if I don’t shut up? All you’ve been doing is hiding all day. Why don’t you prove that you’re not all talk?” she goaded.

Karenia felt an intense amount of energy build up not too far from her. Was he really going to attack her remotely? She only teased him so that he’d come out, she didn’t even consider that he may be able to attack her without giving up his location. She cursed under her breath. Maybe she could trace him through that energy that was welling up? After evading whatever it was that was coming her way that is. But that energy… was terrifying.

A portal formed and the energy signal was even clearer than before. She recognized it somewhat. It was Victor. But was he always this terrifying? She never really took notice of his aura, but she could feel it clearly. He had gotten even stronger than before. She slowly walked towards it. Little by little, she picked up the pace. The fact that they were coming meant they had a way out. At least she hoped so.

“What is that! What the hell! Where the hell do you think you are going!!!” the voice was clearly enraged. As Victor came out to meet Karenia, sharp projections from the ground beneath them come straight at them. Karenia was able to take a step back to evade, but Victor shattered it with lightning. He had to protect Theodore and Lucas that were with him. At that moment, they lost their portal and possibly their only way back.

“This is bad. I lost hold of the portal,” Theodore said. “I’ll need to stay still for a while again. And I don’t think he’ll let me.”

“Leroy! Why don’t you let this go? I’m sure you know that the fact that I’m here means that Jovak has lost,” Lucas said.

Leroy was silent. How did Lucas know his name? And more importantly, was he bluffing? Jovak? Lose? Was that even possible? “I don’t know how you got here or how you even know my name, but you were very foolish to come here. I can assure you that none of you will leave this place alive. This entire space is my domain!”

Several objects were fired in their direction from all angles but Victor did a good job of repelling them. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. By attacking them, Leroy had successfully brought them all together. The space they occupied began to warp. Leroy was distorting the space they occupied, in turn making their bodies turn in a very unnatural manner. With a swing of his hand, Lucas dispelled the distorted space. More objects were sent at them, but Lucas stopped them mid-air with a wave of his hand. He was manipulating Leroy’s space as well as Leroy himself!

“You… who are you?” Leroy asked in shock.

“How are you doing this,” Karenia asked.

“Well, when we realized that this domain is in his mind, I had the idea that I might just be able to bend it the way I can bend minds. It took a while to sync to his mental wavelength but I think I’ve got a hang of it now,” Lucas replied.

“So, you can get us out?” Theodore asked.

“No, but I can force him out,” Lucas replied.

Lucas sat on the ground. He needed to focus. He synced his mind to Leroy’s getting a full survey of the space, trying to piece together Leroy’s consciousness together. And then, distort it. Leroy let out a loud cry. The pain of having his mind warped was making him lose his mind. The mental construct he created was barely holding together. It was only a matter of time before the space collapsed. The only problem was that they would appear right in front of an enraged Jovak. As the space withered away, Lucas peered at Theodore, the words that formed from his lips could only be heard by Theodore himself. But they were clearly spelled, ‘take us away’.

Leroy appeared before Jovak gasping for breath with his hand on his throat. The trauma he felt was still lingering in his head so much so that he didn’t realize he was back in the real world. Jovak’s frown was apparent. He gave Leroy some time to catch his breath. Leroy looked very unkempt for someone that was supposed to be part of an elite squad. He resembled your usual ‘shut-in’ that only lived in a virtual universe. Perhaps that was why he was well suited to his ability.

“Why are you alone?” Jovak asked. He had finally lost his patience. Or he deemed that Leroy already had enough time to rest. Leroy shivered upon hearing Jovak’s voice. It was at that moment that he took cognizance of his surroundings. He looked lost and scared. Very scared. “I asked you a question, why are you alone?” Jovak reiterated his question.

Leroy could see how pissed Jovak was. He stammered a few times before he was able to the words out. “They had a mind reader and a teleporter,” he said.

“Portals then. That, I can work with,” Jovak said. He walked over to where Kiro’s sphere previously stood. He felt the air around it for a while, taking in the feel and the aura, anything that could be of use. He held Leroy’s hand with compassion. There was tension in the air. Was Jovak going to kill him for messing up? Or was he going to pardon him? Leroy had already almost started to weep before Jovak spoke again. “You linked minds with the mind reader, didn’t you?” – Leroy nodded. – “I thought so. I can still feel his aura lingering within you. It’s the same as the aura I felt there. He must have been in the sphere too somehow.”

“Can you trace it?” Isaac asked. He was the only one who could speak to Jovak at that moment.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Jovak grinned. He made some hand gestures and conjured a portal out of thin air. “I’m coming for you, Phantom Riser.”