Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 48: Mind Over Matter

 The Emerald Hour had begun. The city began to glow a bright green, which under normal circumstances would blind anyone exposed to it. However, the green-tinted goggles acted as protective eyewear, which allowed everyone wearing them to see. This was lucky for them, as Martin and his horde were approaching the city from the sky, with no intent on going through the front gate. Martin pushed his hands outwards and the glow of the city went away. Though his will was not strong enough to overwrite the existence of the Emerald Hour, he was able to change the effect it had on the city proper.

James looked up and thought about fighting his opponent. To his surprise, he began to float up into the sky, and soon found himself in front of the man who had nearly killed him just a few months ago. Martin laughed upon recognising his opponent.

"James, it is good to see you here. This means I get to best you in both body and mind. You were no match for me in the real world, rookie, what makes you think you can beat me?"

"I've got a mind to take you down!" said James.

"Clever, but let's see you back that up with action."

James thought about holding a powerful sword in his hand, and it manifested. He swung it at Martin's podium, and though he cut the podium in half, his opponent had teleported away.

Martin reappeared above James, and summoned a giant mallet, swinging it down towards the latter. He thought about dodging the attack, and to his surprise, he was able to. The former's eyes widened as he realised that his opponent had managed to split himself in two while dodging.

James also realised this and smiled before splitting himself into a thousand clones, which rushed towards Martin. The latter created a thousand and one versions of himself, intent on keeping all of his opponents busy. This was countered by the thought of all the clones exploding into fireworks, such a thing having a knock back effect on Martin's horde and the city.

"This battle is getting a little intense, don't you think we should take it elsewhere?" asked James.

"Perhaps I underestimated you," said Martin. "But if you think that means I care what happens to the Emerald City, then you are sorely mistaken!"

Realising that Martin was not going to be reasoned with, James forced their location to change through the power of his thoughts. They were now far away from the Emerald City.

"You realise that we only have one hour to fight at our full power, right? After the Emerald Hour ends, our ability to manipulate the world will be much more limited. After all, when it comes the imagination, neither of us fully lives up to our potential," said Martin.

"Maybe so," said James. "But I'm still more imaginative than you are."

Before Martin could come up with any retort, James imagined a pair of giant hands sweeping up the entire hoard and squishing them.

"There, now it's just the two of us."

Martin was visibly angered by this, and James planned to use this to his advantage. The latter's enraged opponent turned his arms into missile launchers and shot seven missiles at him. He held out his hands and turned the missiles to dust. He then shot a beam of fire from his hands. His opponent countered by turning the fire into an ice wall. The continuous fire stream melted the ice, and so the flames hit their target.

Martin was immune to fire, however, as he simply had to give himself the power. James kicked his left leg up, imagining a giant leg kicking his opponent like a football. The former avoided the attack by splitting himself in two, and moving toward the latter. He saw his opponent charging toward him and quickly thought about putting a cage around him.