He stepped out of the storm, and instantly, we felt the temperature in the room plummet. Our breaths grew ragged, an incessant buzzing started in our ears and all of us felt an inexplicable sense of despair.
He wasn't big, no. He was around my height, but without the third arm. He, too, wore a biker's suit like Blemat. He had the long flowing hair of Evgenomorfus and his dashing good looks, too. His eyes, however...
His eyes were pitch dark, lacking any retina and robbing him of any human-like features he may otherwise have had. As he walked, a cloud of darkness followed him and he appeared to float a few inches above the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, and a voice deeper than any I'd ever heard echoed in my ears, replacing the buzzing.
"I am X-58. I am to be the fourth addition to the team meant to be handling Class-Alpha missions, and the three of you are to be my team-mates. Before I join, I will make a few things clear. I am not your friend. I am not going to celebrate victories with you, and nor will I mourn your losses. I will not be living with you, eating with you or engaging in horseplay of any manner whatsoever with you. On the battlefield, all of you will be as pawns to me, and I will be willing to sacrifice you in an instant if it means we shall win the battle. I will not go so far as to say I will be your greatest asset going into war, but I make it abundantly clear that I am not an easily-replaceable member of your team. If anyone here has any problems with me, I invite them to witness my prowess first-hand."
I raised my eyebrows at this self-aggrandizing monologue and walked forward, brandishing my saber (a weapon I had received from the Army as a General).
"Prove your prowess to me, soldier!" I roared, and charged at him.
He deftly sidestepped and tried to jam his thumb into my neck, but my third arm caught his hand, and used it as leverage to backflip in front of him. Time slowed down as my pupils dilated and I narrowed my eyes, looking at this man who promised to be a powerful adversary. I slowly walked backwards, my saber still held in my right hand.
He began approaching me at an even pace, completely unarmed and looking absolutely relaxed. As soon as he came within attacking range, I jabbed my saber at him. As expected, he dodged it and the second he did, I slashed with all my might towards his torso. I'd just begun celebrating my obvious victory when my eyes widened with horror at the sight I beheld. X-58 had somehow not only dodged my second strike, but also somehow disarmed me and now held the saber at my chest. I recovered my senses quickly, and attempted a roundhouse kick to jar him. With one fluid motion, he got on a knee and slashed through the one leg I was standing on.
I screamed in pain, and while collapsing, pulled out my blaster from its holster and fired it at his chest point-blank, thrice. He dodged two blasts, but the third one blasted a hole through his shoulder at the exact same instant that my kick (with the uncut leg) landed on that very shoulder, causing the already fragile bone to snap, and his shoulder to break.
Suddenly, he snarled and I was slammed into the wall as he was once more engulfed by the black storm and completely robbed me of sight. As I desperately tried to break through the darkness, a saber almost hit my chest. I dodged just in time, and blasted a hole in the hand with which he had attacked me, causing him to drop the saber, and I picked it up. The second I did that, the black storm left him and engulfed me, and suddenly my entire body felt as though it had been attacked by a barrage of sharp needles at every point that could be attacked. The pain was so extreme that I couldn't even let out a noise to express the excruciating agony I felt, and guided by pure instinct, I stabbed with the saber. I heard a grunt as it found its mark, and the black storm cleared. I found X-58 with a stab wound in his stomach, looking at it with mild amusement. He growled, "Enough games", and sent a punch flying at my face with the same hand I had blasted a hole in. Before I could react, he broke my nose and knocked me out.
____________________________________________________________
I was later told that soon after knocking me out, he returned to his black storm and emerged a few seconds later, completely unharmed. Morfus then fought him too, and lost in half the time that I had fought X-58. Blemat also attempted to fight him, but despite his excellent defence, X-58 tore through them like it was child's play to do so, and snapped his neck.
After beating all 3 of us thoroughly, he waited for us to regain consciousness, healing us once we did.
"I believe I have proven my point, gentlemen." he whispered.
I growled angrily, but nodded in the affirmative. Following my example, Morfus and Blemat nodded too.
He then bowed to me, and gruffly (or maybe that was his normal voice) said, "It was an honour, General.", and teleported away in the same black storm he had arrived in.
Tafos grumbled, "He didn't even acknowledge me."
His presence startled me for a second, and I grinned, realising what had just happened to me.
"By the Sun, I have finally met a worthy opponent! This is great!"
The day was not far when I would come to truly appreciate the value of those words....
YOU ARE READING
When I Met Myself
Science Fiction"Time Travel's always been dangerous. That's what Prof. Victor said when he created the first time machine, ages ago. They didn't heed him then. They didn't heed him now. If only they had... this would never have happened. I would never have met mys...
