Power of the Gods

Chapter 26

Lucas opened his eyes, surprised to find that he was still alive. He looked up to see that Justin had gotten his gloves off and knocked him away from the main blast of the explosion. There was a large hole in the floor of the roof where the explosion had been. On the opposite side of the hole was Sam, Porter, Kylan and Alpha, slowly rising and suffering headaches from the explosion.

Lucas then saw the two bodies on opposite sides of the hole. One on the left and one on the right. The bodies were burned black and were now unrecognizable, but he assumed that they belonged to both Striker and Justin since they were the only ones unaccounted for.

Lucas began to make his way towards the others, walking around the hole. He avoided looking at the body as he passed it, but because of that he failed to notice one of it's fingers starting to twitch. Suddenly, Lucas fell to the floor, his body being pulled back by the body, now starting to turn back into Striker. Lucas began to panic and frantically tried to free his ankle from Striker's powerful grip.

"Don't think that you can kill me that easily!" Striker said as he pulled himself closer to Lucas, unable to use his legs until they had fully recovered.

Lucas heard footsteps coming up fast from behind him and saw a leg come by him as it kicked Striker in the face, forcing him to release Lucas. Lucas wasted no time in getting up and running away from Striker. He looked back for a brief moment and saw Justin and Striker with their hands at each other's throats.

Justin and Striker were weak, having used up the last of their energy in order to heal themselves after practically dying. Justin was amazed that he was even able to run when he had kicked Striker. Now he was forcing himself to keep Striker pinned down, but his strength was failing him. Luckily, so was Striker's.

It wasn't long before both of them fell over, not even able to stand anymore. "Even if you kill me, none of you will be leaving this world," Striker said breathing heavily. "You need to open a new portal."

"I don't need magic to open the rift," Justin said, breathing just as heavily as his clone. He looked down and saw a price of rubble that had a sharp end, almost like a dagger. He picked it up and stabbed Striker in the leg with it, twisting it to open the wound.

"Son of a-!" Striker said between gritted teeth. "You're using a sacrifice."

Justin dropped the rock as Alpha came up to him, followed by Sam and the others. "Hey," he said with a weak smile. Sam hugged him and he started to groan. "Not all of my body was healed. I do have a few broken ribs."

"Sorry!" Sam said, quickly letting go.

"It's fine," Justin said. "I was running off adrenaline earlier, but I think it wore out."

Kylan looked over at Striker, who was clutching his bleeding leg tightly. "What's going to happen to him?" he asked.

Justin looked at Striker. "He'll die once the portal has closed," he said. "If he had any magic left he would be able to survive longer, but recovering after that explosion expended the last of his energy."

"So we won?" Porter asked.

"Hardly," Striker said. "This battle may have been won, but it didn't come without it's own casualties. Besides, I doubt that Justin neglected to tell you about the other clone."

"The one of the Dark magic user," Kylan said.

"Exactly," Striker said, smiling. "You don't stand a chance against him. We were both created for the same purpose, but he was always stronger than me. I might be a monster, but that thing's a demon. You'll be nothing more than a workout for him."

"We beat you didn't we?" Lucas said.

"You couldn't beat me without Light magic," he said. "You won't have Light magic with you when the other clone shows up."

"What do you mean by that?" Sam asked.

Striker looked at Justin. "You haven't told them yet?" he asked. He looked at Sam. "How do you think your boyfriend here opened the portal the first time? The same way he just opened up this one. With a sacrifice."

"So?" Porter asked. "He could've sacrificed a goat for all we know."

Striker shook his head. "You're all so dense," he said. "This is ancient magic. You can't use an animal, it'll only open when you sacrifice a human life. I used a Dark-seeker, but it's about the same thing."

Sam looked at Justin and shook her head. "He would never sacrifice someone for this," she said.

"Of course he wouldn't, well, other than me that is," Striker said. "He's too much of a 'hero' to do that. But, there is something he would sacrifice."

"And what would that be?" Kylan asked.

Striker laughed. "Himself of course," he said. "That's why the outcome of this fight didn't really matter to me. No matter what, I get what I wanted, his death."

"Is that true?" Sam asked Justin.

"Unfortunately, yes," Justin said. "I chose to sacrifice myself in order for the rift to open. I didn't tell you because I knew that you would've been mad at me."

"I am mad at you," Sam said, though she could feel tears start to form. "I can't believe that you'd do something so stupid."

"Really?'" Justin asked. "I think that that sounds exactly like something I would be stupid enough to do."

Sam wiped away a tear. "What am I supposed to do know?" she asked.

Justin put his hand on her cheek, pulling her head closer to him as he kissed her. "You're going to go through that portal," he said. "You're going to go through there, and you're going to tell everyone what happened here. You need to make sure that they know this isn't over. Take care of Alpha for me too."

Kylan looked at the portal as it began to flicker. "We need to go, now," he said.

Justin looked Sam in the eyes. "You should go," he said. "I know that this may not have been the way you wanted to hear this, but I love you."

"I love you too," Sam said. She stood up and followed the others through the rift, looking back one more time at Justin as it closed behind them.

When the portal closed, Justin sighed and fell onto his back. Next to Striker, who did the same. "They will die," Striker said. "He'll kill all of them, you were better off leaving them trapped here."

"You're forgetting about someone," Justin said.

"Oh please," Striker said, rolling his eyes. "As if he would ever help them. You and I both know that he couldn't care less about what happens to other people."

"Probably," Justin said. "But I have faith in him. He's not as cold-blooded as you think. He may not like people, but I know him. He'll fight to protect the people he pretends to hate so much. When that happens, it'll be over, we'll win."

"You wish," Striker said as he closed his eyes. His body began to dissolve as his life came to an end.

Justin closed his eyes as his body began to dissolve as well. "Good luck," were his final words as his body completely dissolved, leaving no evidence of any of them ever being there except for the destruction they left behind.