Walking Dollar Bills

Chapter 20: Mind Controls Matter

With perfect precision, Earl summons a gust of wind that hurls his body into the air. The Crimson Brigade soldiers aim their guns towards the sky and begin to let off a couple of volleys. Earl continues to rise higher than the bullets can reach him as they hit their climax and rain upon the ground.

"Stop firing! Cease fire!" yells one soldier.

The wheels of a cannon spin along the grass as soldiers roll five of them into position. The soldiers push the cannons vertically and fill the mouths of the cannons with cannon balls. Meanwhile, other soldiers begin to spread out and take up positions around the base and within the forest.

"We need to surround him!" screams a soldier.

Earl mingles with the clouds as he stares down at the soldiers. A calmness washes over him despite the madness occurring below. He brings his open palms together as the turbulent wind causes his clothes to wildly flutter.

"If bullets couldn't reach me, why would they think dense cannon balls could?" asks Earl.

A blast of wind surges around Earl. He nosedives directly towards the soldiers beneath him. As he darts in their direction a silver aura of wind outlines his body.

The soldiers notice Earl's approach and ready their cannon balls.

"Wait for the command!"

Sweat trickles down the backs of the soldiers' ears and a slight chatter sounds from their teeth. A dark shadow on the ground starts as a pond, and then rapidly expands into an ocean. Earl is seconds away from crashing into them.

"Fire!" commands a soldier.

The soldiers unleash a fury of cannonballs. The hot embers rocket outward and burn the fingers of the soldiers, who grimace in pain and panic. Earl recognizes this familiar attack by the Crimson Brigade and stretches his arms out.

In a fantastic display of pyro-manipulation, Earl peels the fire away from the cannonballs and pulls the flames around his body. Already surrounded by a coat of wind, the flames hungrily devour the air around Earl and engulf his body entirely in flames.

The Crimson Brigade soldiers stare in awe at the burning phoenix descending upon them. Frozen in fear, the soldiers below Earl do not attempt to flee. One soldier drops his gun and covers his eyes with his hands.

Boom!

A shockwave of heat flings the soldiers into trees, the base, and across the landscape. Tiny flames grow into massive forest fires as they latch onto the trees, grass, and leaves of the forest. Earl rises to his feet. There isn't a scratch on him. Two soldiers emerge from behind the flaming trees and unsheathe long iron blades. They charge at Earl.

Earl holds out his right hand and slings it across his body. The fire burning on trees and bushes pull away and fly towards the two soldiers. They scream as the bull-sized fireball swallows them completely and tosses them into the hard ground.

"It's time for a gambit" says a voice hidden in the trees.

Suddenly, the roar of thousands of Crimson Brigade soldiers causes the ground to tremble. Earl's ears buzz as he turns towards the trees. The soldiers unveil guns and blades as they step into the light of the burning battlefield.

Earl smirks.

His legs gallop towards the lake of fresh water behind him. Anticipating his escape, soldiers leap from the trees and slash at Earl, who side steps to avoid one blade, and spins to dodge a second slash. Four, then twelve, then thirty, more and more soldiers launch out of the trees and attack Earl. Nevertheless, their attempts at blocking his path to the lake fail. Five more soldiers jump in front of Earl, but he springs into the air and leaps over all of them.