CHAPTER FIFTEEN: OLD FRIENDS, NEW FOES

As I soared away from Malta in the early morning following our triumph, I wondered what new adventure awaited me. The magic carpet seemed to sync with the mind of whoever commanded it. All I had to do was will it in the direction I wanted to go and it would move. It would pick up and lower speed and height at will as well. I decided I would use this as an opportunity to visit places that my life path had not yet taken me.

I started by traveling across the Atlantic to South America. I had never visited the continent before and had nothing better to do, so why not. I flew from country to country over the next few weeks while my knife wounds healed. I tried to be as low key as possible, but seeing as how I was flying around on a magic carpet, I was bound to make a few tabloid front pages. But for the most part, I basked in keeping my distance from society for a while. Spent time at Machu Picchu, and visited the Amazon Rainforest. I reached Rio De Janeiro just in time for Carnival. It was a lot of fun and even though I was traveling to new places daily, it was a welcomed time of peace in my adventure.

When I had reached the bottom of Chile, I found a small secluded fishing village that took me in for a while as I planned my next move. I spent a calm afternoon by the sea, looking at an Atlas, when suddenly it came to me? I could go to Antarctica!

I knew that I had my whole life ahead of me to visit the other far reaches of the globe that were more populated. But I was so close to the mysterious seventh continent now that I couldn’t see a reason not to go. Afterall, what all did I even know about Antarctica? Everything I knew was from Geography class. I knew few people had been there, and it was really cold, and that it was probably way bigger than someone could imagine it without seeing it firsthand. It was an entire continent with no one on it for crying out loud. That’s hard to fathom when you think of the rest of the world and its many cities.

That settled it! The next day, I would bundle up, and set forth to Antarctica! I took off into the sky over the ocean heading south from the southern tip of the South American continent and wouldn’t stop until I made it a few hundred miles inland.

Well, it was a lot colder than I thought it was going to be. As I sat atop my carpet, flying at cruising speed, I hugged myself and tried to endure the cold. I questioned my decision to come this far in fear that I might end up like Percival did.

That’s when I saw something interesting in the distance. Up ahead, far into the landscape of the continent, I saw what appeared to be a congregation of people. They were gathered around what appeared to be large equipment. I squinted hard to try and make out what I was rapidly approaching. Then suddenly, the unthinkable happened. There was a loud *THUD* Then next thing you know, I was hit midair with an artillery shell. The carpet was fragged and my body plummeted to the earth. I somehow survived the explosion but was a bloody mess and would certainly not survive the fall, be it in the freezing ocean or to the ground.

The end was clearly drawing near, and I knew there was no possibility of survival. I was starting to come to terms with death, and images of the friends I had made on quest started to flash before my eyes. Lauren, Grady, Li, Modicum, Rob and Jess, Bao, Slim and Cinema. All of my past triumphs and failures also appeared. They say this happens to you right before you die.

And I can assure you on this day, that it’s true…

But then I remembered something. The ring! I hazily looked at the palm of my left hand and saw the green gemstone on the ring that Nefratara gave me. I cupped my hand over my mouth and bit it off like she told me. The gel inside emptied into my mouth and I swallowed it.

The ground below me came ever closer into view and a tingly sensation filled my body. Mere moments before impact, I saw gold smoke in my peripheral vision and then suddenly, everything halted. I was suspended in the air about twenty feet from the ground. All color disappeared and everything I saw was through a golden filter. My body slowly started rising, in reverse of my descent. My mind wandered back to just before I spotted the people and my body followed soon after it in slow motion. Now seated back upon the carpet, the golden filter darkened to black and before I knew it, I opened my eyes, and everything had been restored.

I reacted quickly and flew down behind some cliffs so as to not be spotted by the people.

It worked. The ring that Nefratara gave me was actually able to reverse an instance in time. “Thank you, Neffy,” I said aloud before assessing my surroundings.

I made sure to keep myself hidden but slowly moved to get a better view of the people. I was careful to not be spotted. I knew I wouldn’t be as lucky as last time to have a magic time ring. It took about twenty minutes or so of low flying, but eventually I was able to get a good look at the people I had seen in the distance. To my surprise it was about two dozen men, all in gray uniformed snow gear, with blonde hair and blue eyes. They had military hardware and appeared to be on some kind of defense patrol.

Next to what appeared to be their leader was the biggest baddest dude I’d ever seen in my life. He was seven feet tall and must have weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. His arm and leg muscles were almost as big as my waist. I heard orders being shouted in German. That’s when I knew I had stepped into something much bigger than anything I was prepared to handle. Even if I were able to fight this guy head on and win, there's no way I could fight an entire army! I had become a tough son of a bitch over the years, but no way. I wasn’t even fully over my fight with Percival yet. Then it occured to me, since my time reversal, they hadn’t noticed me. I could simply leave and forget this ever happened. I didn’t need to intrude on them and they didn’t need to try and stop me. No harm, no foul.

I took one final look at the big blonde hoss that was standing like a human statue and then decided to leave. I crept away from the scene to not be seen and then willed the carpet to take me back to civilization. Whatever was going on in Antarctica, I wanted no part of.

Within a matter of months, my travels took me high and low. Near places I had visited and places I had never seen before. Much of this part of my journey was very self-reflective and I am not at liberty to share what transpired. I soon however found myself at a bar in Tel Aviv during their celebrations of Shavuot. It was pouring outside and I had my carpet rolled up and strapped to my backpack next to me at the bar. As I said before, I had been reflecting and doing some introspection on where my life would take me next. It was decided for me on that night.

After paying the bartender, I finished my drink and grabbed my bag on the way out. I turned a corner into a cobblestone alley just outside the bar. Rain rushed down all around me with thunder and lightning to compliment it. Thankfully, the alley was a little more forgiving by shielding the wind. The flash of lightning revealed a dark figure in a trench coat and rain hat stepping into the alley behind me.

“Mister, would you happen to be the one who goes by the name Guy?” he shouted over the rain.

I turned to him while closing up the collar around my neck and could only make out his silhouette. Not wanting any trouble, I simply said, “No, I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

What he said next made my heart stop beating in my chest for a moment.

“Oh yeah. Well, how about the name ________?”

I froze. Somehow, someway, he knew my real name. It was the first time I had heard it uttered by another human in years. I turned back to him once again in fear of what was to come and saw him slowly approaching. I could now make out his face. He was a slender man about age forty. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope.

He said, “Don’t ask who I am or how I found you. I’m just a courier. I was told I could find you here on this date at this time. Here.”

He extended the envelope out to me. I was hesitant to take it at first, but my flame of curiosity got the best of me. If I’m being honest, life was a little dull since the mob stopped chasing me and I wasn’t fighting power hungry Pharaohs. But it was a necessary dullness. My greatest challenge yet would be written in the context of this letter.

Before I could open it, the man in the coat started walking down the alley in the direction I had been going. When I noticed he turned the corner I pursued him.

“Wait,” I shouted, as I turned the corner after him. But it was too late, he was gone. I saw what was certain to be a Dark Space deep in the alley. But since I had hidden my Sequencer again after my last trip into the past, I had no way to pursue him.

My attention turned back to the letter. It was a brown envelope with a wax seal. I cracked it open and found a single page note. It said:

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To Mr. Guy,

Your skills and reputation have come to my attention. I would like to cordially invite you to take part in a competition I will be hosting in the Spring of 1999. A tournament against other fighters of your caliber. The winner will be rewarded handsomely as well as be made privy to a great secret of the universe in which I’ve discovered. If you are interested and are up to the challenge, come to Perth Airport in Western Australia on Friday, April 23rd, 1999. You may bring up to two guests. Don’t find us, we’ll find you.

Regards, Mr. Stargazer

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I didn’t know what to make of it. Clearly Mr. Stargazer was involved in some kind of time travel, but it seemed different than what I was used to. He was inviting me to an event two and a half years into the future. Somehow he seemed to know more about me than anyone I had ever met with the exception of Tet and Nefratara. So, after some deliberation, I did the only logical thing I could think of… I went to hastily recover the Sequence Bracer. I had stored it in an iron chest and left it in a cave on the coast of Albania before my battle with Percival. The last thing I wanted was for him to have gotten it if we had been unsuccessful in capturing him.

Once I retrieved it, I used the device to travel to Perth in April of ‘99. I walked through the terminal for half an hour. I didn’t see anyone I recognized, and no one appeared to recognize me. I went to all of the airline desks asking if someone had left a ticket or instructions for me at any of them. I even used my real name, that’s how desperate I was to solve this puzzle. Nothing came up. I waited in the Arrivals area until just before sundown. That’s when I was certain, no one was coming…

It was discouraging, but I didn’t give up. I was so perplexed that I even used the Sequencer to travel back and talk with Tet once again. I explained everything and showed him the letter. He said he would have no idea about anything that could happen to me after being killed in Nefratara’s Alpha Timeline. And when I asked him about what all he had heard of me from his future, he said most of it was vague legends and that nothing stood out at the turn of the millenia.

“However,” he noted, “I could be mistaken and am merely theorizing here. But it’s possible that when you used the ring Neffy gave you, it could have triggered an alternative destiny for you not accessible through any of the existing time lanes.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Well quite simply, this event is in an Alpha time lane all of its own and hasn’t happened yet in any parallel reality. Perhaps you got the attention of someone with your actions that understands the universe better than all of us. It would appear they were hinting at that in their letter.”

What Tet said made sense to me. I departed his kingdom once again and returned to my

Alpha point. I racked my brain with what to do next. Then it hit me. I would simply have to wait until the date of the tournament through the natural flow of time. I was dead set on entering the tournament at this point, but I knew I had to utilize my time well. So, I decided to head to San Francisco.

I walked into a Chinese restaurant that I had only been to physically, once, several years earlier. The hostess sat me down and asked what I would like to have to drink. I asked her to tell the owner to bring me a glass of Johnny Appleseed Apple Juice. Within seconds of her going into the back, an old friend appeared after her.

“Oh my god! Guy!” Li said, as he came out to embrace me with a hug, “It’s been far too long.”

“Yeah, how come you don’t visit me in my dreams anymore?” I joked.

“Hey now, you were awake,” he noted, “anyway, what brings you here?”

“Well, I’ve got something to show you. Need me to wait til tomorrow or can you step away right now?” I asked.

“Just give me a minute,” he said before he went to the hostess girl and rattled off something to her in Cantonese. She nodded and went to the back to tell the others as Li and I left the restaurant.

Back at his place, I explained everything that had happened to me since I left the monastery. You can imagine that took quite a bit, but I felt he needed context. Besides, we needed to catch up with each other anyhow. I saved the letter for last,and his eyes lit up. I asked him what he made of it and he chalked it up to one of life's great mysteries.

He said, “With everything you’ve experienced already, it would seem something this complex was inevitable.”

When he asked me if I was going to go on the date I was instructed, I came clean with him.

“Li, I want you to know that it’s been a blast catching up with you and I would’ve done this at some point anyway. But you need to know the real reason I’m here,” I confessed, “I want you to train me for this tournament.”

“Train you?” he asked, “Don’t you think you’re tough enough already?”

“When I left you at the monastery, I had just become strong enough to knock you down with ‘White Lightning’. I know how skilled you really are and even though I’ve gotten a lot better over the years, I’m sure there’s still more you can teach me.”

Li sat back in his chair and thought for a moment before he answered, “Alright. I’ll do it. But I need to make some arrangements for the restaurant and my other affairs. Tell you what…meet me here next weekend and we’ll fly to Sydney together.”

“Why Sydney?” I questioned.

“Because we’re going to train in the Outback together. If we can make it to Perth alive, then you should be ready for that tournament.”

That sounded great to me. I spent the week enjoying California for a change instead of some far-off exotic destination. Then when the time came, Li and I went to the airport. Thankfully, the ole phony passport trick I learned from the Russians still worked. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened in Beijing. When we landed in Sydney, Li explained our itinerary as we stepped out of the terminal.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” he explained, “we start walking here, and we don’t stop until one of us absolutely has to rest. When we’re all charged up, we’ll do it again. On the third day, we spar. We repeat this process every day until you feel you’re ready to fight anyone and everyone at that tournament or the date arrives.”

I agreed, and we set off on our new journey. I spent over two years in the Outback with Li. I believe we both took our skills and prowess to new heights out there. In our time together, we went from, ‘just some guy being trained by some Chinese guy’, to soul brothers. The experience was so special, it cannot be brought to words, so I will not even try to summarize our time in the bush.

But one day, we were camping and had a conversation.

“It’s Christmas today, Guy,” Li said.

“Oh yeah,” I chuckled, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these down under seasonal differences. Not if I was here for a decade.”

“Well, luckily you won’t have to. The tournament’s in four months.”

“Wait,” I stopped him, “it is? Holy shit. I can’t believe we’re this close to it!” “Doesn’t seem like it would ever come though, did it?” he added.

I thought for a moment before saying, “Li. I think I’ve done all I can do out here to prepare for this thing.”

“Oh?” he perked up, “Think you’re prepared for the tournament already?”

“Well, sort of,” I tried to explain, “I’m thinking in more of a mind, body, and soul way.

Physically, and for the most part mentally, I think I’m ready. But spiritually and in the back of my mind, I think there’s something I need to do before entering the tournament that I would regret if I didn’t.”

Li did not even ask me what it was I needed to do. He understood fully. He told me he was going to return to the United States and would meet me in Perth. I thanked him for all that he had done for me and we parted ways.

The next day, I found myself at a familiar doorstep. One that I had not seen in quite some time, though it had not been so long that it had seen me. I knocked a few times and then waited. After a moment, Cinema came to the door. She nearly bawled her eyes out before grabbing me in an embrace. It had only been six months since she last saw me, but it had been over four years for me. I knew I would eventually return to her but only when the time was right. I allowed some time for her from the last time we saw one another to make sure that I was what she wanted. I allowed even more for myself to ensure the same. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. This is true.

Once we had become…reacquainted, I explained everything that had happened since I left. I told her about the tournament and how I wanted both her and Master Chen to be my allotted guests, so they could be in my corner as moral support. She agreed to come with me. I asked what she did with her Sequence Bracer. She quickly went to retrieve it from a steel box under her bed. It had been sharing company with a 23rd century vibrator. The world had made a lot of advancements in addition to time travel.

“Okay, when do we leave?” she asked.

“Well, there’s one thing I haven’t mentioned to you yet,” I replied.

“What’s that?”

“Well, even though I waited a really long time before coming back here, I still kinda got impatient and left Li four months before the tournament,” I explained.

“Hmm, well okay, we have a number of options,” she inferred, “you can stay here in the future, and we can just avoid trouble for four months. You can leave and come back again to pick me up for the tournament, or I could meet you there with my Sequencer on that date. Or…I can find a last-minute replacement for the rest of the semester to teach for me so I can come back and spend time in the 20th century with you.”

“Yeah, I was really hoping for option four,” I stated.

So we did the most sensible thing we could think of. I went to the university with Cinema and stayed relatively out of sight while she entered the same study hall where we first met. Sitting by himself was a young man who had a bright future, both at this university as well as in other unique endeavors. He was sitting by himself, reading a book on 21st century performance enhancing drugs. Cinema walked over to him and tried to be discreet.

“Ummm, Excuse me. John, isn’t it?” she asked.

He looked up from his book and said, “Yes, Miss Zang?”

“I was just wondering,” she eased into her inquiry, “how would you feel about an opportunity to gain some clout here at the university?”

“Clout?” he questioned, “this isn’t like that time you acted all weird outside my dorm again is it?”

“No, no, no,” she assured the young Tet, “this is about an opportunity to become the second youngest professor to ever teach at this school.”

“Huh?” he questioned.

“If you can do me a favor and substitute teach my classes for the rest of the semester while I’m away, I can see to it that the Administration expedites your Doctorate.”

“Hmmm? Well, where are you going?”

“It doesn’t matter…,” she paused before indicating too much deceit, “...umm…I’m going on a special assignment for the government. I can’t really talk about it. But I’m sure once you’ve got your PhD I’d be able to bring you in the know. In fact, that’s why I’m asking you.

Because…my superiors have an eye on you too. And I said, ‘yep, that John Tet. He’s our man.

You can count on him to head a secret government organization…’... ehh.”

“Wow, really?” his eyes lit up, “A special assignment for the government. Yeah, you can totally count on me, Miss Zang. Or should I call you, Agent Zang?”

She let out a sigh and said, “Let’s just stick with Professor, ok?”

“Sure thing, you can count on me,” Young Tet assured.

After that fiasco, Cinema was able to leave with me for an extended period of time without disrupting her life in the future. I was glad for that, because as selfish as I may be at times, I didn’t want her ruining what she established in her own time. With that problem evaded, we synched up our Sequence Bracers and traveled back to December of 1998.

“Okay, you got me here, so what now,” she asked, as we stood there in the middle of the Australian Outback.

I answered her by unrolling the magic carpet from my backpack and throwing it out to straighten in the air before us. I grabbed her by the arm and tossed her aboard it. It startled her a little bit, having never been on a floating rug before. Then I jumped up after her and said,

“Now, we create our own adventure!”