In the simulation of the alien planet with the field of strange blue grass and brightly colored moons in the sky, Arthur used his Void Greaves to jump off the air and swing his glass sword from right to left, trying to take off Zachias' head.

The big blue alien smirked, his metallic silver eyes shining, and he leaned back allowing the sword to pass in front of him. As soon as the glowing greatsword swung past him, he slammed his head forward into Arthur's face.

His forehead alone was bigger than Arthur's entire head, and in the real world, that would have been the tragic ending of the poor man’s story. Fortunately, they were just mental avatars. The blonde haired warrior flew through the air and slid across his back leaving a trench in the simulated alien grass.

Jack was wielding his staff in the form of a naginata and he used the full length of the weapon to keep the giant at bay. In the countless times that they had sparred with Zachias, they had yet to make him draw so much as a dagger. He pummeled them with nothing but his bare knuckles, feet, and of course, his massive forehead.

Jack hurled a thick bolt of lightning into his face, but it may as well have been a cool breeze for all the damage it did. The most frustrating thing about fighting Zachias was knowing that he was holding back so much. If he wanted to, he could break every bone in their bodies with an errant thought and no effort.

Jack and Arthur were using their elements to move so fast that a human would see nothing but a shining blur. Yet to Zachias, they may as well be standing still.

Jack slashed and stabbed, jumping and spinning to keep Zachias away. The lightning qi running through his body made him feel invincible. There was enough power pumping through his veins to light up a city.

When all of this started, he was weak even by the standards of human beings. Now however, Jack could probably go to the Olympics and clean house. He could be the second stoner to win eight gold medals.

He moved with blinding speed and swung his naginata with everything he had, but the body snatching alien avoided his every attack with condescending ease.

Arthur rejoined the fight in a bright flash of white light, swinging his sword and seeming to attack from multiple angles at the same time. They coordinated their strikes to throw him off balance.

Arthur went for his head from behind while Jack swung for the front of his knees, but Zachias always moved just far enough to avoid their blades. As per usual, they went on like this until the big alien decided to end the fight, at which point, it was over in milliseconds.

This particular time, Jack lunged forwards in a stab, and Zachias stepped to the right. Jack's naginata blade crashed into Arthur's sword with a clang. He had manipulated them so well, they may as well have been fighting each other.

Zachias used his momentum to spin into a reverse kick. The back of his giant heel slammed into Arthur's skull quickly followed by Jack's face and the humans were sliding across the grass right next to each other.

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After they had agreed on their plan, Matt had taken them to the big empty house that he had been sleeping in. Apparently, there were some benefits to being able to sneak in anywhere undetected. Matt said that the people that lived here were out of town and wouldn't be back anytime soon. Jack wondered how he knew that, but he didn't ask.

On Zachias' insistence, they had agreed to spend their free time meditating and training. They began absorbing qi and allowed Zachias to take them into a mental simulation where he proceeded to beat the shit out of them repeatedly. Jack was starting to suspect that this exercise was less about training them than it was therapeutic for the not so gentle giant.

"How long will it be before we stand a chance of beating you?" Arthur asked, rubbing the back of his head.

Jack put his thumb and index finger on the bridge of his nose to check that it was still there. Even if it was a mental simulation, he still didn't enjoy the feeling of getting his face smashed in.

Zachias looked at Arthur and shrugged. "A few millennia maybe."

Jack turned to the eight foot tall wall of muscle with one eyebrow raised. "Humans are lucky to live eighty years" he said confused.

"If you buffoons would just do as I tell you, you will live much longer than that" Zachias replied nonchalantly.

Jack had almost died twice in the last two weeks. He wasn't ready to make plans for his 3,000th birthday quite yet. "Pretty cocky for a guy who fell from outer space and died choking on his own blood last week" Jack joked and Zachias' face darkened. "Maybe you aren't the greatest authority on longevity."

Zachias dropped them from the simulation without responding. He had never done that before.

"Woah" Arthur said, surprised. "Maybe you took that one a little too far."

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. “I thought I made a pretty good point.”

Soon after, they returned to meditating and absorbing qi. Jack and Arthur both spent the time in introspection, trying to discover what was holding them back from sensing their chakra.

Jack had always thought that, compared to most people, he was relatively honest with himself. He was sure that he acknowledged and accepted his greatest flaws. Low impulse control, obsessive focus, Jack knew that he was no saint, but he had worked hard to improve himself.

So why wasn't he able to use chakra? Was Zachias right about him all along? Was he in denial about how evil he was? He didn't feel evil. All he really cared about was that his family was safe and happy. Jack pondered this for hours to no avail.

Matt returned late that night to find Jack and Arthur in the living room, sitting in the lotus position with their eyes closed. He couldn't tell if they were thinking or snoring. Matt stepped out of a shadow, darkness rising from his shoulders like smoke.

He condensed his qi into a tendril of darkness coming from his right shoulder blade, and used it to tap Jack on his back. Jack's eyes snapped open with a spark of lightning and he found brown eyes staring back at him from inches away.

He was on his feet in a defensive stance before his mind registered that it was only Matt. Annoyed, he relaxed and glanced around at the charred spots on the carpets and furniture where his lightning had touched.

"You and your fucking jump scares" Jack complained. "I'm going to tie a damn bell around your neck if you keep that up."

Matt smiled shamelessly. "You just try it sparky" he challenged with a grin. Arthur laughed at their exchange.

"What did you find out?" Arthur asked. Matt nodded and began telling them what he had discovered.

"I found the perfect target for us. They control a disturbing number of politicians and their network seems to be controlled by a few people at most. As far as I can tell, their orders come from a bougie mansion in a rich neighborhood called Great Falls."

"Have you been inside it yet?" Jack inquired and Matt shook his head.

"I figured you guys would want to go in with me, but wait till you see it. It might as well have evil lair written on the mailbox.”