Oversight

Epilogue

The master approached the base of a large tree. The tree stretched so far towards the sky that the master couldn't see the top, the base so wide that it could be a good sized walk in closet. The master looked in both directions to make sure nobody was coming and then he revealed his mark. Roots bubbled out of the ground and revealed a cave-like entrance. The master walked down a set of steps and the roots readjusted to cover the entrance. 

The tree seemed bigger on the inside. The master stood in the center of what could have been a living room, a spinning staircase dropped to one side of the circular room. The master walked up these stairs, peering into rooms as he walked past them. In each room, people waved their arms or sat with their eyes closed, keeping the world spinning smoothly. More accurately, they were keeping nature moving forward. The master got to the top of the staircase and stepped into a smaller room.

It was almost like an office. A man sat behind a wooden desk that was connected to the ground. With a wave of his hand, the desk sank into the floor and he stood up, his chair following the desk's example. "Good afternoon Damian. To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

"You know I do not go by that name."

"Yes, but you are not master of anything anymore. So, you shall go by Damian until you reclaim your title." 

"That may be sooner than you think."

The man did not seem happy to see the master anymore. "What are you doing here?"

"I require some help. My team was left behind, I am in need of them. If you would reclaim them I would appreciate it. Also, we will require a shelter and sustenance until we can handle our little problem."

"You mean Noah? You're little mistake? The whole world knows about him now. Controllers and mortals alike know what he is capable of."

"I can handle it. There has been a prophecy..."

"Wasn't it because of one of these prophecies that we got into this mess in the first place?"

"Yes, but this one is different."

"Show me it...show me all of it."

The master extended his hand towards the man and the man closed his eyes. He saw Noah floating over a city on fire. Lightning arched out of his body like he was a giant spider. Electricity jumped out of his eye sockets. 

Then the vision changed. Noah was laying on the ground, dead. Controllers stood and floated around him, staring down at their fine work. There must have been hundreds of them, or at least a few that cloned themselves a lot. 

The man opened his eyes and looked at the master. "How do you expect to tip the scales in your favor?"

"I have my ways."

"Well? Do share. I would love to hear how you plan to gather an army to kill this one kid."

"I already have an army." The man obviously didn't believe him. "I sent recruiters to gather the most powerful army they could. They gathered one hundred mortals and made them unstoppable. I took ten out to be my personal guard, and Noah couldn't even kill all of them. Imagine the pure destructive power we'll have when we have them all chasing down this one, poor, boy. He'll have to chance." The man considered his options. "And if we stop Noah, I will gift you with fifty of the finest warriors from my army."

That was what the man needed to hear. "I will help you. But once this is over, I will expect you to hold up your end of the bargain." He held out his hand to shake, and the master shook it with a firm grip.

...

Will had barely survived the brawl. He had left his team to die in the end in order to save his own skin. The only other one alive was Andrew, who couldn't die even if he wanted to. Andrew had healed Will as much as he could but they were both very weak after so much fighting. They stumbled down the road, helping each other walk. They wouldn't exchange any words. Will had forced Andrew to leave with him. Richie had been stabbed through the chest by the time Will made his decision to retreat. Steven had been to far away for them to grab him and run. So they left him behind to die, and Andrew wasn't taking it well.

The silence did give Will the chance to think though. They needed a plan of action. A goal of some sort. Will still wanted to kill Noah, but they had bigger problems at the moment. They had been declared enemies of the controllers. They needed to protect themselves from the upcoming dangers.

For the hours that Will thought about it he only found one option. He hated it though. It would mean going against everything he had worked for. But it was either do it, or die. He debated with himself for hours, searching for any other options. But he couldn't find any. Finally, he decided he should stop fighting it and accept it. There was only one person that had stood up to the controllers, fought them, and lived to tell the tale. If Will was to live through all of this, he was going to have to find Noah.