Footsteps rained across the land as the soldiers marched towards the looming tower in front of them. As they charged forward, their screams were only masked by the screeching of the monsters in front of them. Their weapons were painted a golden hue, and their armor shone in the night. The soldiers ran in formation, spears pointing toward the monsters while bullets rained from behind. Leading the formation was a man in common clothes with a dagger in hand.

The two sides clashed amongst one another, and the battle ensued, with spears ripping through the scaly and rigid exterior skin. Their eyes shone with anger at seeing their comrades fall behind them. Their teeth sank into the armor of the men, releasing pheromones that infected the air. Confusing ally and enemy, the soldiers started to pull their weapons to themselves as they clashed with one another.

Some of the monsters hurdled over the front lines as they dashed towards the commander and his gunmen. As they slipped through the gunshots, they opened their mouths wide to chomp the heads of the men, when suddenly a gold light flashed through them and left their heads chopped off.

The commander shuffled his dagger back into its sleeve as he let in a deep breath and exhaled. His eyes gleamed with boredom as he screamed “Charge!” to his fellow soldiers. The gunmen quickly followed his orders and pushed forward, raining bullets and forces of energy across the battlefield. The reptilian creatures bombarded by these enormous amounts of light were quickly incinerated, and their pheromones faded away, leaving the soldiers no longer confused.

The battle continued to unfold as the reptilian creatures were slowly pushed back towards their castle. As blasts of golden hue continued to attack the creature's scaly skin, they started to retreat to their lair. Running on all fours as the army sprinted towards them, and some staying back to grab the spoils of war. Gold and skin flew in the air, and soldiers desperately tried to grab these items with greedy smiles.

The commander was on his reptilian horse calmly, its skin as bumpy as the creatures they were warding off. It huffed a little as its claws collided with the floor, and its eyes glared a dark yellow. The commander yawned as he marched up the hill towards the castle, his men surrounding him marching in unity. The moon illuminated the creatures, exposing them in the night as they crawled to the top of their tower. The commander looked upwards as his eyes lit slightly, memories flooding his brain.

—

Joshua woke up from his dream, gasping for air as his hands reached out for the sky above him. His brown hair fell over his eyes as he looked around. He quickly inhaled and exhaled a few deep breaths and stayed calm. I looked around him, surrounded by the wooden walls of the hotel he was staying at. He quickly stood up out of bed to face himself towards his window. He did not bother to wear clothes as he went out to the balcony of the hotel. Looking around, he summoned a cup of coffee and took a few sips. Surrounding him were a few vehicles floating in their spots and giant trucks carrying cargo. His elbows rested on a clay-like material, heating his body. He laid his head down on the edge of the balcony, mumbling to himself a few words as he looked forward to the acres of trees surrounding him, lying on the mountains. In this distance was a conglomeration of buildings, skyscrapers, and Caldera.

He kept sipping on his coffee, groggily straightening out his body and posture. He quickly pushed his hands toward the floor and stood up. Pulling his body down, he started to count the reps. "One, then two, then three," he muttered.

As the minutes ticked by, Joshua continued to work out, and the stars slowly rose above the horizon. Joshua, drenched in sweat, entered his room once more. Sitting down, he felt the tingling of energy all around him. Lights flickered across the room, and the matter started to condense slowly around Joshua as he breathed in and out. Hearing the beats of his heart and the density of his breath, Joshua's body started to glow as he started to control his body, levitating upwards. As the room started to shake more, Joshua’s body started to tense up, floating upwards, condensing the energy around him. His body started to shake before a knock was heard on the door. Immediately, he stopped his meditation and creeped slowly to the front door.

"Who's there?" He says it in a gruff voice.

"Manager here, quiet the hell down; you're waking up all the guests."

"Oh, I apologize, sir."

"Apologies, my ass," he heard the manager mumble.

Joshua took a deep breath and chuckled, walking into the bathroom next to him. Turning the knob of the shower, steaming hot water came on as Joshua grabbed a bar of soap. He rubbed the soap across his body. He sighed a breath of relief and let the water splash over his face as he applied shampoo and conditioner to his hair. His fine brown hair fell over his eyes as he exterminated all the gunk that had accumulated from his hair the past few days. Memories flashed over his eyes—the destruction of cities around him, a kid with brown hair like his desperately crying for help, and more indiscernible memories. Turning the knob to the left, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, rubbing it and wrapping it around his body. He slid out of the bathroom, humming to himself. As he stepped out, a slight beeping noise beeped throughout his wrist. Looking downwards, a warning message popped up, reading, "Warning: Officers are closing in on you in T-760 Ticks.".

He sighed, grumbling to himself, grabbing his army-colored green tee with his black blazer and loose-fitting sweatpants. Rushing to put them on, the watch's rapid beeping was more irritable by the seconds, leaving Joshua to quickly rush out of the room. He quickly stored his clothes in a bubble while they disintegrated.

Reaching the front desk, the same manager from earlier who had gotten irritated by Joshua glared at him with demeaning eyes.

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"Hey, I'm going to book out taxis still available; I need one in about 200 ticks," Joshua rapidly explained.

"I'll book one for you in 400 ticks."

"No, you don't understand; I need to be leaving soon."

"Who are you to order me?" The man glared, a fierce fire in his eye.

Joshua grinned as he looked at the man and suddenly gripped the collar of his shirt and looked at him straight in the eye.

"Reveal yourself; I know who you are," Joshua grinned.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME BE-"

"Do not make excuses, sir; let me go, or else the corps that will come in about 600 ticks will appear and arrest you for being unlicensed," cutting him off.

"Sir, let go of me, or there will be consequences."

A silence filled the air as only the ticking of the bell was heard and small footsteps were heard from the emergency exit, along with the dinging of the elevator.

"They are coming, and you know how much fear will overtake your dear customers if they find out."

The manager sweated as the footsteps started to come closer to the main doors. The manager's eyes started to swell, and red blood poured through. The clock ticked second by second as his eyes waved around the entire hotel.

"OKAY, I WILL, I WILL!" The manager complied, his eyes turning back to normal suddenly.

"Thank you; I take it to see you will have one of those automatic-driving cars, huh?" Joshua replied.

The manager opened his mouth to argue, but as he saw Joshua's glare, he quickly lowered his lips and finger, cursing to himself as he started to type on the keyboard.

A family of four walked in from the elevator side while a singular man walked from the exit stair sides, hiding behind a trenchcoat. The family walked up to the manager as he typed, and his demeanor quickly changed from gruff to polite and compliant.

"Hello, sir, is breakfast being served now?" The father asked.

"Oh, yes, go to the lobby and make a left at the open door there."

The father urged his kids to come as he walked to the lobby, but his lone daughter stayed, looking at Joshua.

Joshua stood straight and confident. Looking to his left, he saw the man in the trench coat, reading through the newspaper, but Joshua promised that he saw the man peering through.

Joshua started to charge his attack before the girl held his hand, marveling at the trick he had shown her.

"Tshh, runoff, girl, go back to your papa," Joshua peered.

"No, no, do tricks again," she insisted.

Looking upwards, the cloaked man disappeared, and quickly Joshua's eyes glowed, looking for any sort of aura, but none was available to his eyes, and the girl continued to pester.

"Hey girl, I'll show you it one more time, but now you have to go to your papa," Joshua said, shining the light.

The girl was amazed as her eyes glistened in awe of the gold energy sprouting from Joshua's hand. His veins were glowing as they popped matter out of his hand.

"Lilly, come over here," the girl's father called.

Lilly thanked Joshua before skipping towards her father in delight. Joshua smiled and watched her leave. His mind turned blank as old memories popped through his head. Blood over the palace floor, and a god pointing towards him, creatures emerging from the depths and grasping at his legs, when suddenly a snap came.

Joshua shook his head, looking back at the manager.

"I just powered one of the auto drivers; you can take it for free, dipshit," the man paused between each repetitive word.

"Thank you," Joshua smiled. He slammed his palm on the table, leaving currency there.

The manager looked in glee at the massive amounts of money, but as Joshua walked out, he could not help but notice the huge amounts of energy popping out of his dagger sleeve.

Joshua walked straight into a sunny day, the sun at high rise, popping the morning peaks, a type of bird on this planet, to sing. Joshua stretched his shoulders as he walked to the white car in front of him. Below the car, blue lights shone. Joshua checked how much time had passed, and suddenly it was around 400 ticks until the timer would go off.

"shit." Joshua cursed.

He quickly opened the car door and sat down in his seat. He was sighing as he laid his head down on the headrest of the chair. Rubbing his eyes, he quickly pressed the engine button on the car. As he pulled himself back, he felt a needle poking his neck.

Joshua's eyes turned around slowly, meeting face-to-face with the man in the cloak and his red-snake eyes.

"Drive to your destination, right now," he ordered.

Joshua put his hands in the air and let the car start itself.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll be there," he smirked.

–

The manager walked silently as sirens surrounded the building. Flying Capsules built their fleet, the patrons leaving the building one by one in single file lines, separated by gender. The manager turned in circles, biting his nails, and his eyes turned back into his predatory form.

A cold hand lay on his shoulder, quickly swatting away his eyes. He turned to normal, staring at the men in front of him.

"There is no need to be agitated; this search will only take a few hours. In the meantime, we have a few questions," the blonde man said, towering over the stumpy manager.

"So what is your question?" the manager said, slightly relieved.

The two officers nodded their heads at one another, with another few guiding the guests outside.

"Have you seen this man before?" the second officer explained.

The manager's eyes widened, slightly chuckling as he saw the visual poster for the man he had just seen.

In front of him was a 1:1 recreation of Joshua, with a bounty of 20,000,000 dollars.