2 hours earlier
Miss Zulu sipped her cup of tea. In front of her was Commander Zi; she had not expected his arrival today, and it changed all of her plans.
“Thi-z-s is ver-yy-sz good tea.” Commander Zi glitching said.
"Can you get rid of the voice? It is scaring my customers.” Miss Zulu glared.
Commander Zi’s mask went to a sad face, with blue colors and a teardrop.
“My-sz Apology-ee-s-z, the-z drones arre acteve.” He replied sincerely. He quickly snapped his fingers, and his devices dropped gracefully to the floor with the wind.
"Now back to what I was saying, the tea is amazing," he said, revealing his true voice, "but it does not hide the fact that you are continuously avoiding me; we must work on this case together.” He said, his voice was childlike, matching his stature.
"Yes, I understand, but it would be much more reliable to find him later, especially in your district."
"I have started my work early; he is nowhere near Section 3. If he had been, he would have been found and dealt with; I have suspicion to believe he came here.” Commander Zi inquired.
"In what world would he want to be here, and why? The card from Madam Bourget only works for a few certain areas, and the closest one was to you; he was heavily injured after those battles; how could he have crossed into my territory, especially over the Hanz River?"Madam Bourget argued.
"But what if he did?" Commander Zi said it excitedly.
Another cup of tea came around with a servant woman offering it to him. He walked over when Madam Bourget stretched her leg and tripped her spilling tea across Commander Zi. As she fell, Miss Zulu whispered something in her ear as she fell face-flat to Commander Zi.
"My apologies, Zi; this one is a clumsy one.” Miss Zulu apologized.
"I don't understand why you leave your section like this if I were you.” Suddenly, a hand struck in the air, striking the girl. “I would have gotten rid of them a while ago." His mask shuffled in anger.
The woman’s eyes filled with tears as she hurried away.
"Now back to what I was saying." Commander Zi's electronic mask shuffled until it went to a normal blank face. “Let me send my drones out, and in about a day, we’ll find him.”
Miss Zulu tapped her fingers on her tights rapidly as she asked, “When will you start?”
"Well…Now."Commander Zi smiled.
Before Miss Zulu could object, drones rushed the building inside. The customer screeched as they ran out of the building, a few drones following them as they ordered the people outside to line up straight.
“Well-zz I hope-sz you do-o-o notty mind-e, I have to make sure he is not here. Extra precautions.” Commander Zi said, transitioning his voice while he coughed. More drones went up the stairs. Miss Zulu looked at him, enraged, but she could not do anything yet.
–
Joshua sat unrestfully in his room. He was granted a larger room for comfort, but security was a problem. What if somebody questioned? He didn't believe anyone would, but he had to always be careful. Miss Zulu was a wild card, and he did not even know what her reptilian ability would be. Whatever she was, it was dangerous; her philosophy clashed with everything he had known, but her way with words was scary, giving Joshua thoughts he should not have.
As he lay back on his chair, he reflected on his past week. Getting to Madam Bourget's home, the mind controls betraying him. Then there was also the sudden realization of where he was. Joshua had never left his home planet, where Jom-Suttur was located. Ever since he left home, his dagger has been offering him dreams of the past's violence and destruction.
The galaxy was vast, the Milky Way they called it. Thousands of lands were conquered by the strongest and mightiest, but the Kingship, the strongest one in this entire galaxy, had just betrayed him. Now that the Democratic Republic was after him, he needed to leave this planet, and Caldera seemed to be his only choice. A moon that had a planet the size of 200 of it surrounding it, while the star in the back deepened itself within the land.
Joshua raced around the room, pacing his legs back and forth. He had been in chase for months now, and he was so close to succeeding, but why was he scared? Was he scared, but not of the setting or the people, but of what he would do next?
His door was suddenly slammed open, and a woman gasped heavily, her makeup half wiped off and a red mark on her cheek. She gasped and tried to find her words, as if her life depended on them.
A rage filled Joshua as he ran up to her and spooked her, grabbing her shoulders.
"Who the hell did this?” He seethed.
"Commander Zi of the third section came to contact Miss Zulu, and I had offered him food, but he had swatted me away. Miss Zulu came for me to warn you.”
Joshua's anger started to cloud his judgment, like a storm rolling through his mind. His eyes darkened as he stomped, bumping into the lady. He was ready to run out of the room and attack Commander Zi. The woman had grabbed him and cried out, “Do not go, please; just stay.”
Joshua took a deep breath, inhaling slowly as his eyes lightened up once more. She was right; anger should not cloud his judgment and make him make reckless moves.
As he calmed himself, a drone rushed around the corridor, and he was pulled back into the room by the lady. Holding their breath, they held themselves together as one of the drones entered the room, scanning for human life.
"Not a single move.” The woman whimpered. She held back her ties as her eyes turned red.
A few more drones kept passing me as the woman shuffled closely to him. She turned her head to see which drone would finish their assigned room first. Suddenly, the drone in front of them jerked below, looking under the bed.
The woman popped open her blade, and she quickly switched her emotions becoming very serious once she popped her blade out. She seemed to be Miss Zulu’s assistant.
"Please, do not turn around.” Joshua thought, and he closed his eyes in anticipation when he was suddenly thrown into another room as the drone left, leaving the lady to close both doors and feel the interrogation of the drone.
Joshua was left by himself in a darker room. Looking around, the place was flipped violently, similar to his room. Lamps were misplaced, and the bed was ridden with gunk.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Joshua breathed a breath of relief as he heard the drones zooming by his room. He grabbed the pouch on his belt and quickly pulled out a small gem. He proceeded to throw the gem in his mouth as he crunched on it, gurgling and snarling at the taste.
As he swallowed, he picked himself up, and his eyes glowed a shiny yellow. His brown hair had streaks of golden marks. Looking around the room, he saw one of the only weapons he could find in his vicinity. A small shrapnel that is used for surgery.
"Weird thing to have in a room.” Joshua was confused.
He looked under the bed and inside the closet to look for items that could be of use, but all he found were some hangers and clothes.
The sounds of drones zoomed past once more, starting their descent down the stairs. He had heard stories of him from Miss Zulu. Commander Zi was not known for mercy, and he was going to interrogate and torture innocents for information. He had done so to catch one of the three reptilian commanders, and now he was waiting for his death sentence.
Joshua managed to keep himself calm once more, and his mind no longer raced with the aggressive thoughts from only a few minutes ago. He knew Commander Zi was going to take advantage of him, so instead of being the one oppressed by his uncanny tactics, he was going to be the oppressor, and surely Joshua believed he would leave everyone alone.
–
Commander Zi sighed as he sat on the city steps in front of the council building, or brothel. In front of him was an angry Miss Zulu, who was battered after a scuffle with the drones. Her eyes glared forcefully through his heart. Screams from men and women echoed throughout the city as the drones fired on the cities, burning them before watering the remains. People died on the streets as they tried to escape quickly, and others were aggressively hit for information on where Joshua was located.
"This is unconstitutional, Zi; let your drones go now!” Miss Zulu yelled.
Commander Zi’s mask smiled as he shook his head sideways. His robot mask had an eager grin on it, seemingly happier than it's ever been.
"Miss Zulu, I most contain him, and this-zs iz the only wayzz that works, then again-a I will just’sz be forgiven's of my crimes and say I won't do it again, Commander Pohl-sz haz always parrr-doned me, and you-p have too. I'm so excited, I am not even glitching out anymore; these drones are going through with my bidding!” Commander Zi explained ecstatically
"You will not be pardoned.”
"Why."Commander Zi exclaimed, his grinning image stretching across his mask.
Suddenly, a dagger was thrown through his mask, striking it and cracking the pixels into pieces. Miss Zulu stood there with her hand outstretched horizontally as the drones outside Commander Zi’s vicinity fell.
He only stood there before his hand moved, gripping his mask and cracking it even more before looking at it with disdain and throwing it on the ground. Suddenly, a group of drones surrounded him, wired to the innards of his palms. For once, Miss Zulu had a proper look at him, and while he had a black eye mask covering him, she saw his pale skin and thin lips, like a child.
"Wrong choice.” Commander Zi said directly to Miss Zulu’s attack; his glitching paused for a moment. “The mask never controlled anything, only me!”
Commander Zi’s drones leaped towards Miss Zulu. Miss Zulu thought of dodging them, but the lasers they summoned put an end to that plan. As they jumped forward recklessly, her fans hovered as she flipped them open. She moved like the wind, running towards Commander Zi in a zigzag pattern, cutting through at least six of the drones, leaving them to explode.
Fire erupted in some of the buildings, and people jumped out of the windows as the drones fired in all directions. Commander Zi looked in all directions before realizing his predicament.
"Where the hell would a commander go to face me?" He thought a train of ideas had come to fruition when he saw the air move weirdly.
Smoke covered Commander Zi’s face as he inhaled, coughing and swatting away the smoke in front of him. Tough as he was doing so, punches flew at him, and cuts started to appear on his body, ruining the tracksuit he was wearing.
"Where is she coming from?" He thought, and his mind jumped to different conclusions, but every time he would attack somewhere, her hand popped out of nowhere.
Her arms seemed to stretch out endlessly; even when he tried to activate smoke vision, she would counteract it with a punch to the face. She knew he could not activate his abilities right away, meaning he was prone to all these attacks.
Commander Zi quickly smashed the floor in anger, and an electrical current rushed through the ground and the air, with his wires being at the forefront of powering everything, creating drones from around the area that came in, quickly reactivating, and using their firepower to shoot the smoke. Miss Zulu gasped for air as she backflipped away from all the shots, leaving her in the open with many guns pointed at her.
She threw a smoke bomb and jumped into battle, but at this moment, Commander Zi knew her next move. He cursed himself for not understanding this simple move earlier. More wires popped out of his palm and expanded like he was made of only wires. He used the wires to throw Madam Bourget onto the concrete sidewalk. She let out a breath to regain the air she had lost, and she curled up, coughing out spit.
“Well-zz play-ed-z, I'll say.” Commander Zi said it blandly.
"What was he going to do next?" Mizz Zulu was stunned when she suddenly saw Commander Zi smirk.
Before she could notice, she looked below to see wires trapping her ankles together. She made sure she was colliding her two sharp fans together, and she slashed the wires, trying to rip them off. The wind gusted from her fans, and Commander Zi could not help but smile.
"Permanent metal alloy, stupid name, but it's indestructible against your type of weapons, and it can also conduct electricity, making it the perfect material for my drones as well. I was very surprised when you destroyed a few.” Commander Zi despicably smiled. “And now, what will this rabbit do?” He puckered his lips.
A dagger flew past and scratched Commander Zi on his cheek, Miss Zulu leaping forward like a crazed animal as she popped out her fangs. Surprising Commander Zi, he took a few steps back, making her fall flat on the floor.
"Oh my days, Miss Zulu, Section Leader 6 izzz a reptile, what a crazy-esz turn of events, you lose to me in battle’z, you’re job, and whatever you had going for you in life, how did you get away with it all these years?” Commander Zi questioned.
"I have been caught, but all my captors never made it out; you know that.” Miss Zulu muttered.
"What did you say?” Commander Zi asked once more.
Dust and shreds of wood hit him in the face as he swatted away everything. He looked onwards, disgusted at the onlookers' fear, before the wind pushed him back to his target.
Then, when Commander Zi had lost attention, Miss Zulu leaped towards him, popping out her fangs once more as she wiggled out of the ropes.
"Easy."Commander Zi thought before he grabbed her head and smashed it onto the floor, wrapping her up tightly in his wires.
"Stupid Miss Zulu, you were never strong; you were one of the three oldest leaders, and you are on the floor, grasping towards a junior commander, sad your career will turn out this way.”
"She was so stupid; how could she believe she would be in combat?" Commander Zi thought. He rested his leg on her head before continuing to taunt her: “A reptile like you is unworthy of leading this district; once I take over, it will become a haven, a utopia; that has always been my goal.”
The wind blew past everybody as the people watched in horror. Their commander was quarreling at another man’s feet.
"Now beg for mercy; I will spare you; I will spare your people, Miss Zulu; but you must accept all my orders forever.” Commander Zi ordered. “This is too easy.” He thought; she was a toy meant for him to order.
"Go to hell." She smiled.
"Fine, but you-res first.” He smiled back.
As his wires tightened on her body, Miss Zulu shrieked, and her reptilian eyes and fangs started to mix as she changed between the two forms repeatedly. Commander Zi took much pleasure in doing so when an entire blast attack hit him and sent him flying. In front of him, he saw Joshua standing there, smirking.
"Well, well, well." Commander Zi said he was looking at his target right in front of him.
Before he could get a word off his head, he was grabbed and sent flying through the air before being kicked downward, crashing into the concrete. Commander Zi spat out blood.
Joshua walked slowly towards him, still grabbing his ribs as they strained him to walk hunched.
"Commander Zi.” Joshua struggled to say, “I am here for your absolute demise.” Joshua confidently said this before popping another gem in his mouth.