“B.C.P.D.!” Pomo yelled, his cloak whipping around him.

Dark figures emerged from the helicopter, dropping toward them. Pomo and Shifun spun as the figures landed.

Pomo turned to see their way cut off. “We’re surrounded!”

The figures rose to their feet, adorned in black armor that mirrored the city. Green eyes glowed from black helmets and laser sights from sleek rifles.

Shifun and Pomo turned, desperately looking for an escape route.

CRACK

Another figure dropped from the chopper and landed on the rooftop, crushing the concrete underfoot. Pomo and Shifun stood, frozen as the figure rose, a dark robe sliding from the ground. A thick hood concealed their identity. “Shifun! I should have known this momentous occasion would be enough to draw you out of the hole you’ve been hiding,” the figure said removing their hood and stepping forward. A man peered down at them through black shades resting upon high cheekbones, gray skin pulling tightly at the corners of his mouth, revealing fanged teeth. Chrome implants gripped the side of his face like clawed hands. He smirked as Shifun’s expression changed to one of recognition.

“Abbas?” said Shifun. “What’s become of you!?”

“I’ve found a new path, one that is not afraid to explore the full spectrum of cultivation,” Abbas said. He looked to Pomo, “I see you too have moved on.”

Shifun turned quickly to Pomo, “Get back to the temple, I’ll deal with this traitor alone.”

“But, Master—” Pomo replied.

“Do it!” Shifun yelled, raising a hand, causing a sudden explosion to erupt between two of the armed agents. The agents scattered—stunned—leaving an opening for Pomo to escape.

Pomo realized Shifun meant business and quickly made a dash for the opening.

“Stop him!” Abbas ordered. The agents turned their sights on Pomo.

In a instant, Shifun darted forward, engaging the agents in a dazzling display of skill that was too fast for Pomo to register. He stood frozen. As the dust cleared, Shifun was the only one left standing.

“Incompetents!” Abbas yelled.

Shifun turned to Pomo, “Get going!” he yelled.

Pomo took a final look at Shifun then quickly leapt off the edge of the building.

“So, it seems your skills have improved after all, Master.”

“Enough! I take no pleasure in fighting the corrupted.”

“How noble of you. It will however, be your downfall. Why shouldn’t we take pleasure in the power we wield over others. Wouldn’t they revel in the same if the tables were turned?”

“Preposterous! Enough of your babble Abbas. There is no point in conversing with someone who is clearly insane!”

“For once we agree on something,” Abbas replied.

“The Czepta has arrived, you know what the prophecy dictates. Babylon’s time is at an end!” replied Shifun.

“Now who’s babbling? The Czepta—is that what you believe?” Abbas asked. “Ha! You’re deluded. Didn’t you see our artillery bring the ship down the moment it left the Veil? It’s only a matter of time until we pick the pieces of it out of the harbour. Besides, what did you make of the Shayateen, that followed with it? Something tells me they aren’t a part of your prophecy. Is that how you pictured the arrival of the great Czepta? Your savior?”

“Doubt all you want! Babylon will burn, and you’ll realize the folly in joining their corrupted order! Your time ends here Abbas!” Shifun said, quickly darting toward him.

Abbas crossed his arms in time to block Shifun’s attack, sending him skidding across the rooftop, almost off the edge. He looked down over his shoulder to the steep drop down to the city below. He looked back to face Shifun and smirked before launching his own attack. “I have also grown, Master. Although I’ve left the Order in my wake, I continue to cultivate.”

“You call what you do cultivation? Ridiculous!”

“You’ll pay the price for neglecting the entirety of cultivation!” replied Abbas.

“The only thing you’re cultivating is blasphemy!” Shifun yelled.

“The Order of Zion’s ancient religion has no business existing in the modern world. Why don’t you let it fade into the past where it belongs?”

“Your ignorance betrays you, our savior has arrived! Soon the Veil will dissipate and you will face the true kings of Aotea!”

“That’s why I left you Shifun. The Order has become stale, you’ve been sitting around all these years, waiting for someone to come and liberate you. I prefer to place destiny in my own hands. If I want power I shall take it!” Abbas said, launching forward for another attack.

He moved like lightning, beating Shifun back. Shifun matched him strike for strike, and for a time it seemed as though neither were destined for victory.

Then, something happened which Shifun did not expect, a technique he’d never before witnessed. He felt a sharp sting and looked down to see that Abbas had grabbed his wrist and twisted it in a way that paralyzed his entire body. Something more alarming was occurring however. From under the sleeve of Abbas’ cloak, a strange black liquid was moving down his hand and onto Shifun’s own. He winced when it touched his skin, it was freezing cold like ice.

“What is this dirty trick?” Shifun yelled, staring in alarm as the oil-like substance continued creeping up his arm and onto his body.

“It’s a little surprise we’ve been developing, crossing cultivation with the latest cutting edge technology. We call them Klipoth, a pseudo-sentient fusion of chi and nano-tech. They will create a shell around your meridians, disrupting the will you use to direct the chi within them.”

The black mass of liquid technology was now beginning to penetrate Shifun’s body. He felt cold terror, that of being powerless. His entire body was being encrusted by this dark fusion of technology and magic.

“Impossible—chi doesn’t exist in the material dimension, how can technology possibly interact with it?”

“Consider the Klipoth a kind of synthetic elemental, enabling an interface between your astral and material energies. Their corporeal aspect is able to hijack your negative emotions, using them as a gateway into your system. Ironically, it’s your own weakness that allows them to invade you.”

Shifun now felt his chi being locked away from him, he tried to break free—brute forcing his way into the meridians through pure force of will, but the Klipoth had already flooded the channels, blocking his will from accessing the chi within them. “What dark pact have you made to access such knowledge?”

“We serve only the true ruler of Aotea. But I’m afraid you won’t get a chance to learn more. It seems the Klipoth are almost done with you.”

“You’ll never achieve the power you seek Abbas, you may defeat me, but eventually you’ll be consumed by the darkness you stoke in your heart!”

“Perhaps, but you will not be around to find out,” Abbas replied.

Shifun dropped to his knees as he experienced sudden flashes of strange forgotten memories, things from the distant past—from childhood. “What are you doing—” he stuttered as the wrenching pain of trauma struck him, causing an emotional chaos within.

“They’re digging into your subconscious, mining old memories you thought were lost. They’ll use these as a gateway into the deepest levels of your unconscious. From there, they will manipulate you like a puppet,” Abbas replied.

A flash of a crying woman, silhouettes of stooped angry figures—all part of a chaotic whirlwind he was now swept up in. Shifun struggled to control his internal state, but it was a battle he was losing.

Shifun’s vision began to darken until he felt himself falling away into a inner void, his body now a prison over which he had no control.

The color in Shifun’s face began to fade. In a few moments, the Shifun that was, no longer existed. Shifun’s body rose and looked at Abbas with a blank expression as though his body was but a puppet.

“You see? You are powerless in that face of our technology. We have embraced the aid of the void, and we are not afraid to use it. Now—” Abbas instructed Shifun’s vessel, “—return to your temple and await my instructions.”

What was once Shifun, turned silently and leapt off the side of the building then disappeared into the darkness.

When Shifun was out of sight, Abbas fell to one knee, the damaging effects of the battle and his expense of energy now catching up to him. The air rushed out of his lungs and he fought desperately to replenish them. He produced a pouch from under his cloak and removed a small cannister—its contents glowing blue. He twisted one chrome end of it, causing a needle to eject. In one violent motion he plunged it into the back of his neck, into his spine. The sudden rush of energy surged through him, causing him to gasp and lose control of his body for a split second. He felt its electrifying force cooling his veins like ice and refilling the meridians right to his core.

Replenished and revitalized, Abbas stood and opened a communication device on his wrist, the silhouette of a holographic figure appeared before him. The figure flickered in the rain, a dark shadow—wraith-like. “Lord Datura, the mission has been successful. Shifun has been corrupted.”

Datura was silent a moment, his face concealed in shadow. “The Order will soon be eliminated once and for all,” he replied in a voice like cracking ice.

“We have their new location, why do we not destroy them now?” Abbas asked.

“I will not risk them slipping through my grasp again, especially now with the arrival from the Veil. If they make contact with the Order of Zion, then with Shifun’s help we will know about it.”

“Of course—my Lord,” Abbas replied.

“I want you down in the harbour with our cruisers immediately. Find that craft and the one within it, bring them to the Sentinel.”

Abbas bowed his head as the device disconnected. Datura’s hologram dissipated in the wind.

Abbas looked out across the harbour, past the wall from which floodlights scoured the water in search of the sunken vessel, to the wall of swirling mist that crackled with electricity. “Soon,” he said, eyes narrowing. He looked to the helicopter hovering above and leapt upward. He grabbed a hold of it and gave the order to move out.