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My heart is racing. Shar’I doesn’t look too happy about me wanting her to leave this planet and take her shit with her. Her body is facing me more towards me than to Shendour. I keep my body tight and my senses high just in case she does something sudden. No one is moving. We’re all quiet and calmly breathing. The anticipation for something to happen is making my heart beat faster.

“We don’t have to do this,” I say to break the tension. “Go back to your world and deal with your mess there.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Shar’I says and then nearly jabs her finger into my chest. “I gave you the power to help me, not be my enemy.”

“I’m not your enemy.”

“Then help me,” she says in a calm voice before giving me a stern warning to not interfere if I don’t assist in taking down Shendour. I know if I go against her, I might utterly regret the beating that will come from it. I’ll probably die trying, but I can’t in good faith sit on the sidelines and watch them war with each other for a stupid throne. More people will die. “So,” she says. “Have you made your choice?”

“I have,” I say, tightening my fists.

Shar’I looks away and sighs for a moment. In a split second, she nearly drives her fist into my face. Nemetoria catches it. She returns a glass-shattering haymaker and sends Shar’I through the wall. Her arm is all of a sudden huge and veiny. When I look up her arm, I notice it isn’t the only thing that’s muscular. Every inch of her body that’s exposed is swole. Her physique resembles a female bodybuilder minus the grotesque lack of water weight. She’s a foot taller than me now.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that,” Shendour says, smirking for a quick second. “You look bigger,” he says and reaches for Nemetoria’s arm. She slaps it away and chokeslams him. The ground caves in underneath him. “Hey!” He grunts. “Wait a second! Let’s make a compromise!”

“Speak fast before your eyes pop,” Nemetoria says.

“Help me kill her and we’ll leave.” She squeezes tighter. “Okay, okay! I won’t!”

“Swear it!” Nemetoria says in a deep voice.

“I swear!” She lets go of his neck and lightly shoves me ahead of her.

“Eddie.”

“Yeah?” Eddie says.

“Watch these two while Nikki and I deal with Shar’I.” I walk with her close behind my back to the hole where Shar’I is standing in the distance. Her eyes are glowing pink, and she’s snarling. Her fists open and close as if they are pulsing.

“To be honest, I’m fucking scared right now,” I whisper with my hand over my mouth. “There’s no way I can fight her.”

“I know you can’t,” she says and puts me behind the right side of her.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Your telekinetic power,” she whispers in my ear. “Use it when she’s not paying attention to you.”

“Figuring out a way to conspire against me, huh?!” Shar’I says. Her loud voice makes me jump. “After all they did, you mark me as an enemy?”

“We’re not your enemy!” Nemetoria says. “Your issues have caused harm and death. Nikki is right. You need to get off our planet.”

“I’m not the bad guy!”

“Yet you were about to lob off Nikki’s head!” Shar’I’s squints and goes quiet. “If you say they’re the enemy, then why would do such a thing?” Shar’I silence pisses me the fuck off. I clench my fist and bite the inside of my lips to help me cool off. I need to put all my anger into concentrating on surviving this fight. “Go home, or this’ll get ugly for you.”

“All right then.”

“Get ready, Nikki,” she whispers a moment before Shar’I nearly clocks her.

Nemetoria moves in the nick of time. They trade blows to the stomach and face. Shar’I grabs her punch, wraps her arms, and slams her down on the ground. She goes after me but Nemetoria quickly trips her. I almost hesitate to punch. I hit her hard enough in the face to make her spin horizontally. Nemetoria jumps on top of her. They roll around violently wrestling each other. Shar’I rolls on top of her and tries to punch her face in. I tackle her off. She flies out of my arms and stomps me into the ground. My back pops. Its sharp pain momentarily paralyzes me.

“Fuck!” I say, clenching my teeth.

“Get off of her!” She pins me down and uses her telekinetic power to stop Nemetoria in mid-flight.

“This is ridiculous!” Shar’I says. “Turn against Shendour and Tinra, not me!”

“Nikki,” Nemetoria says, straining her words. “Use your power.” I use telekinesis to swing Shar’I off of my back. Her hold on Nemetoria breaks. “Now, hold her in place!” I double the output using both of my hands. My power holds her in place, but it feels like I’m trying to hold heavy dumbells without lowering my arms. Somehow she’s resisting the telekinetic force. I can see her trying to wiggle out. The more force I place around her, the heavier my arms feel. They start shaking.

“Let! Me! Go!” Shar’I says, straining through her teeth.

“Nemetoria, I can’t hold her!” I say. “You need to do something!” She suddenly breaks the hold and attacks me with no remorse. Before I can comprehend what’s happening, I’m on the ground looking at the blue sky. I can’t move. I’m writhing in pain around my stomach and face. Every breath I take is labored. I lie motionless until the sounds of transformers go off around me. I see glimpses of lightning pass over me with a series of varying colors of dark blurs. Sometime later, Tinara stands over me.

“You’re not looking too good there,” Tinara says with a smile. She squats down with her right hand reaching for something behind her back. I hear two pops and a short burst of compressed air. Her eyes glow green. She looks at me, reaches for something on her right side, and puts something cold on the right side of my neck. “Sweet dreams,” she says. Something sharp jabs into my neck using compressed air.

“What did you do?” I say. She puts her hands over my eyes and closes my eyelids shut. My eyes feel like they’re falling into the back of my head. The ground under me disappears. I feel like I’m falling. When my back hits the ground after five seconds of falling, I open my eyes and scream.

“Hey,” Eddie says, rushing to my side from across a room. He rubs my arms and says I’m okay.

“There she is,” Tinra says. I scream again. “And there’s the usual reaction.”

“Where am I?” I say.

“You’re in their ship,” Eddie says. I quickly check everything around me. The metallic room seems familiar. It doesn’t have the interrogation chair in the middle of the room. I’m propped up on a hospital-like bed that’s longer than me. It’s padded and enclosed with metal guard rails. My clothes, including my bra and underwear, are in a pile in the corner of the room.

“Why am I here?” Eddie looks over to Tinara.

“Quite a few things,” Tinra says. “Your organs were lacerated, your chest was caved in, and your skull was broken in many places.

“Eddie?” I say on the brink of having a panic attack.

“You’re okay now. Your body will heal everything,” he says.

“How do you know that?!”

“Because of the healing properties of sourmeda,” Tinra says. “Plus, I injected you with some cada to speed up the process.”

“You what?! Are you trying to make me into a monster?”

“That would be impossible,” she chuckles.

“How?”

“Your body would reject the overdose,” and taps my stomach. I flinch from the pain. “Hmm. Another hour and you should be good.” She walks towards the door, but I stop her and ask why she’s helping me. “Tell her. I need to be somewhere else,” she says and walks out.

“Eddie? What the hell is going on?”

“I,” he says and glances at the ground. “I let her go and allowed Shendour to arrest Shar’I.” I’m at a loss for words. “I know that was wrong but I saw what she did to you. I had to let them… help.” Words can’t describe how annoyed I am, but luckily I have some to thank him for.

“You saved my life by letting them go. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I think Nemetoria is pissed with me.”

“Did they… kill Shar’I?” He shakes his head, no, and tells me that she is locked in the ship’s jail cell. “I need to have a word with her before they leave.” My blanket slips down into my lap when I sit up.

“Jesus!” He says like he is choking on water.

“Shit!” I cover my breasts by crossing my arms. “I’m so sorry!”

“You’re good,” he says, averting his eyes while walking towards my clothes. “I didn’t see anything.” He collects them and hands them to me without facing me.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Sorry about that,” I say, holding my clothes close to my chest. “This’ll be quick.” I clothe myself within seconds. “Let’s go,” I say as I zip up my jacket. We walk side by side through the spaceship. The lights are bright like LEDs. The corridor’s floor and walls are made of metal. Most of the doors are sealed shut.

“It’s this one,” he says. He enters a door to our right and stops halfway in. “Great,” he says under his breath.

“What?” I whisper.

“Is that Nikki?” Nemetoria says moments before peaking around the corner. “Oh, thank the heavens!” She hugs me firmly but gently enough to not feel like I’m being squeezed. “You’re okay.”

“And you don’t look like a freaking bodybuilder,” I say, pinching her shoulders. “Is Shar’I in there?”

“She is,” Shendour says, cutting Nemetora off. Shendour steps out into the hallway with Tinara. “What do you want with her?”

“I just wanna talk.” He opens his palm out towards the room. Nemetoria follows me in. Shar’I’s hands and ankles are cuffed. She’s sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. Her face has smudges of dirt and her hair is an absolute mess. She stares at me without blinking with her head slightly tilted down. When she blinks, it is followed by a quick sigh out the nose.

“Come to gloat?” Shar’I says.

“I came to ask why.”

“Why what?”

“Why… everything?” She tilts her head to the left and raises a brow. “Why did you bring all of your shit upon us?! Upon me?!”

“I told you why.”

“An ally, right?” I say seconds before exploding. “Who the fuck were you before you came here, huh?”

“She’s a dictator,” Tinra says.

“I didn’t ask for your input, you fucking psychopath!” I say, pointing my flaming finger at her.

“Easy,” Nemetoria says. She tries to ease my emotions with shoulder rubs. It’s enough to extinguish the fire, but I’m still riled up.

“Don’t tell me to take it easy! This woman brought hell into my life!”

“Nikki,” she says firmly holding me in place.

“She gave me powers I didn’t ask for, brought those two murderers to our planet, and nearly got me and my girlfriend killed several times!” Spit flies out of my mouth the louder I get. Shar’I doesn’t flint when some of it lands on her face. “I’m done! Y’all need to go back to your shitty worlds! I want to go back to my normal life!”

“Normal?” Shar’I says and chuckles. “Nothing isn’t normal about you anymore.”

“Uh huh…”

“Mhmm,” she says and stands. “You’re like me now. We’re the only two beings with great power.” She takes two steps closer but something invisible on the third step pulls her back. “Your power is limited to your imagination, your life is now eternal, you can be anything you want and do anything you want,” she says and then glances at Shendour and Tinra. “I gave you a gift from our galaxy that could make humans see you as a god, and you want a normal life?”

“I’m not like you.”

“I’ve heard that before,” she says and looks at Shendour and Tinra again before giving Nemetoria a long look. “Even your Roman hero relished absolute power.”

“That was thousands of years ago,” Nemetoria says. “I’ve given up that life.”

“Yes,” she says with a frown. “You are a disgusting shadow of the woman I made from a sterile mother.”

“I can’t believe I fucking worshiped you.”

“Good times,” she chuckles.

“You are awful,” I say.

“Yeah? What else is new?”

“I’m done. Whatever they do with you, I don’t care.” I storm out with Eddie hot on my ass.

“Where are you going?” Eddie says.

“Home!”

“Okay, but that might be a problem.” He pulls me into a room that has a window. We’re orbiting Earth. The sun is behind it and Australia is beginning to peak over the horizon.

“Eddie… are we about to be kidnapped by aliens?” I say, having a small panic attack. My hands are shaking. I try to burp to soothe my stomach but end up nearly regurgitating a little bit.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” I say seconds before dry heaving. “Why am I in space?!”

“Police began to swarm us when you were out. Tinra brought you to their ship to avoid them.”

“And took me to space?!”

“Let’s get away from the window.” He walks me into the hallway with half of his body snuggling around me. I stand still so I can get a better hold. I’m shaking as if I’m dying from hypothermia. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m panicking,” I say, squeezing him tighter. “I just wanna go home, man.”

“We will,” he says several times while rubbing my back.

Suddenly, the ship vibrates. Its engines fire up like a rocket ship. My body momentarily feels light like I’m going down an elevator. I hold Eddie for dear life until the moment passes. I’m so nauseated and scared that I don’t open my eyes until everything goes quiet. The engines rumble loudly for a few more seconds then stop.

“What’s going on?” I say.

“I’ll go check,” Eddie says. He goes into the room that has the window. Nemetoria corners the hallway a second after he enters.

“Hey, Nikki,” Nemetoria says. “How are you hanging?”

“I’m a mess,” I say after sitting on the ground with my back against the wall.

“A mess?” She says and squats with her arms crossed.

“Hey, we’re,” he says and pauses when he sees Nemetoria. “Towards some desert looking island.”

“Australia?”

“Great!” I whine. “I’m on the other side of the fucking world!”

“What’s up with you?”

“She had a panic attack,” he says. My shaking returns. I hold my hand out to see how bad it is.

“God,” I say, clenching my hand into a fist a few times. The shaking is still there. “Get me off this damn ship.”

“Right this way,” Tinra says, showing up out of nowhere. Her body momentarily becomes translucent. “My real self and Shendour won’t be seeing all of you out. Once you all leave, we’ll be gone.”

“Wait,” Eddie says. “Is that a hologram?”

“Yup,” Nemetoria slowly says.

“So, that’s it, huh?” I say and stand up.

“Thank you for your service,” Tinra’s hologram says. She grins with an uncanny smile. It’s too wide. Her teeth are whiter than the damn lights. “Follow me.” We walk down the hallway past Shar’I’s room. Nemetoria stops at the door, shakes her head, and sighs before walking with us.

“You okay?” Eddie says.

“I’m fine,” she says, giving me a half-flushed smile.

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Once all of us step foot on the ground, the bay doors hiss and close. The engines fire and the ship takes off. It surrounds everyone in a dust cloud. I don’t get the chance to see it vanish in the sky.

“Jeez,” Eddie says, coughing.

“So,” I say after waving the air to avoid breathing in the dust. “That’s it? All the shit they did in the months of being here and they go scott-free?”

“Yes,” Nemetoria says nonchalantly as she squints at the sky.

“That’s so bullshit!” No one reacts to my comment. They all look sad. Eddie’s arms are on his hips and he has his head down into his chest. Nemetoria is still staring at the damn sky as if there’s something there. “Guys!”

“Yes?” Eddie says.

“What do we do now?”

“Uh,” he says with his finger rubbing the back of his ear. “Let me make contact with Christabell.” While he speaks with her, I listen to their conversation. She’s speaking with government officials about the aftermath of the fight with Tinra, Shendour, and Shar’I. It’s an utter shits show. They’re still counting casualties. The number of injuries has skyrocketed to over one hundred people. The estimate of damages is over two hundred million.

“Shit,” Nemetoria says under her breath. She presses her hands over her eyes and then pulls them down her face.

“Do you need me right now?”

“Yes,” Christabell says.

“On my way.” His radio clicks off. “Guys…”

“I heard,” Nemetoria and I say together.

“Nemetoria, are you coming?”

“I thought I was no longer a part of the team,” Nemetoria says. Before he can say a word, she agrees she’ll come after she has a word with me.

“All right,” he says and looks at me. “I’ll see you around,” he says and vanishes into lightning. His lighting shoots into the sky, curving away from the sun.

“So,” I say. “What do you want?”

“I want to let you know I understand your anger.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” she says and wraps her arms around her stomach. “I feel like a fool too.”

“Why’s that?”

“I thought I knew Shar’I,” she says as a tear rolls down her cheek. “If I had known about her intent, so many lives wouldn’t have been lost.” Another tear comes out from the other eye. “If I wasn’t such a loyal follower, I could have sensed the problem sooner.”

“You couldn’t have known. I barely believed her and it took those two crazy guys to show it.”

“Damnit!” She kicks the ground. Her foot digs in and shoots a chunk of dirt in the air. “I should have done something different.”

“What? Like, kill them?”

“Yes!”

“But that isn’t you, remember?”

“They hurt my friends and nearly killed them..! Shar’I almost killed you…” The second sentence chokes up her words. “She was willing to end your life because you didn’t want to get involved with her mess,” she says almost crying before getting angry. “Now, they’re gone to whatever world they come from.” She looks at the sky again and shuts her eyes. All of the remaining tears stream out. I can’t stop myself from getting emotional thinking about what she might be going through. “Nikki…”

“Yeah?” I say after regaining my composure. My eyes are watery and my nose is starting to run, but I keep everything in.

“Let’s get you home.” She gets on one knee. I get on one knee to hug her from the front. We hold each other without saying a word. My tears seep through my shut eyes.

“Oh, god.” I cover my eyes and chuckle at myself. “Damn tears.”

“My mother once told me there is no reason to hide tears for any reason.”

“Why?”

“Because it isn’t shameful when it comes from the heart.”

“Spoken like a philosopher,” I say, chuckling between my words.

“Thanks to the power of sourmeda, I’ve lived a long long life,” she says and hoists me on my back. “I could quote a lot of philosophy.”

“So, does that mean I’ll live… forever?”

“Yup,” she says while walking. “I haven’t aged since I reached the age of thirty. But, I was born with it.”

“Wait, seriously?” I gasp. She sores into the sky without warning. I nearly choke the shit out of her just to hang on.

“I didn’t know until recently that the same power you have, Shar’I gave to me.” That doesn’t make sense. She has nothing of what I have. And her eyes are brown.

“You don’t have my powers.”

“Oh, but I do,” she says, snickering.

“How?”

Nemetoria runs down her interesting, yet wonderful life. I feel like I’m listening to a podcast. There is so much history coming from her that I don’t think I can remember all of it. A few facts stand out. Her power comes from a small dosage of sourmeda. It is not enough to create the odd effects of manipulating fire, and ice, and honing telekinetic power. But her strength is beyond mine. She has hundreds of years under her belt. Even though sourmeda is enhancing her, she is naturally superhuman.

We make it to Texas within three hours. My mind is still trying to process her flight speed. She claims she can go faster but hasn’t had the time to try. I tell her to take me with her whenever she attempts to.

“You’ll fall off,” Nemetoria says, giggling. “You were barely keeping on at the speed I was flying.”

“True,” I mumble, gazing at the city skyline. I’m so happy I’m home. I can’t wait to see Sam and return to my normal life.

I jump ahead of Nemetoria to reach my apartment first. The door is locked and it is late in the night. Sam is undoubtedly asleep. I’m unsure if she has work in the morning. I don’t want to knock or force the door open, so I fly over to the balcony. It’s locked as well.

“Fuck!” I say. For a moment, I think about breaking the door. My hand grips the handle, but I can’t commit to causing more damage to our place. “Could I crash at your place? I don’t want to disturb my girlfriend.”

“I don’t think she’ll mind,” Nememtoria says, inching her index knuckle on the window.

“I do,” I say, blocking her finger. She moves my hand out of the way and knocks anyway.

“Sam, wake up!” After nearly a full minute of knocking and shouting, she wakes up.

“Nikki?!” Sam says and rushes to open the back door. I don’t have the chance to say hello before she tackles me for a hug.

“And that’s my queue,” Nemetoria says and flies away.

“Babe, you had me worried sick,” Sam says, caressing my cheeks with her soft and warm hands. “Are you okay?” Her question makes me tear up.

“I will be now that it is over.”

Days after Shendour and Tinara’s onslaught, the city is still dealing with the aftermath. Government agencies are investigating each Egnimas member. Eddie is keeping his word to be tight-lipped about my involvement. All of his partners agree to keep the secret hidden, including Nemetoria. No one, not even Congress will get her to reveal who I am. As far as the world knows, I am a supernatural alien.

Egnimas intends to keep it like that as long as they can. Nemetoria suggests that I don’t worry about the world knowing who I am. My presence, power, and similarity to her abilities in her mind are enough to sway anyone from bothering me. If the worst is to come, she’ll announce to the world that I am her “blood sister” in hopes it’ll draw some attention away. Our fights have made her look at me not as a friend, but as a sister in arms. She won’t tell the world until I give her the go-ahead or if the world begins to negatively invade my life. I doubt it’ll work. I think it’ll have the opposite effect, but only time will tell.

For now, I’m done being Nayantara. Her quick yet impromptu purpose has come to the end of a crazy chapter. Hopefully, the next page won’t have her sandwiched in a political war. There are still two big-time threats out there. Rayan and the Shadow Ghost are MIA. Eddie, his partners, and Nemetoria are ready at a moment’s notice just in case they show up. Even though I’m on pause, if my friends desperately need me, it’ll be hard to say no. I owe them my life.