Chapter 6: Dreams And Dimensions

Cole is presented with visions of parallel universes before meeting a mysterious figure.

Still engulfed in the blinding light Cole thinks to himself, Dimitri where are you? Where am I? Am I dead?

A strange sensation comes over him where he feels as though he’s floating. Gradually the light dims allowing blurred colors and overtones of random incoherent voices to present themselves. In the washed out light, he can just make out a silhouette of a man with an afro standing over a body on the ground. Barely visible, but unmistakably, the man stands with his arms held up. The silhouette yells with a deafening rage.

What is this? What am I seeing? Where am I? Did they pull me into the bunker? No... This isn’t right. I’m somewhere, somewhere different.

At the peak of the man's long cry, radiant light focuses around him. With it all sound goes mute, as if someone had sucked it right out of reality. The light engulfing the man rapidly distorts, shattering like glass in all directions. Cole’s head throbs in reaction to the shattered light. He can’t help but yell and hold his head. Again another rush of colors fill his vision, though this time they are dimmer allowing in a bit more detail.

What am I seeing?! Is this a dream? Too weird for a dream... Then where am I?

A sudden realization comes over Cole that he’s now in a different location entirely. He’s floating, like watching a dream. Once again Cole can see the man he saw before. This time he’s more than just a silhouette. He can just make out that the man is standing next to a blue lake. Yet another body lays by his feet, though Cole can’t see who it is. The same sensation of sound disappearing overcomes Cole again. This time it’s followed by a high pitched ringing. Light focuses from the core of the mysterious man. It expands encompassing his body, then explodes with jagged shards in a shade of red. Cole squints from the flash in his eyes. The pressure in his head becomes torturous. He squeezes his head.

“The pain!!”

Again this dream repeats its cycle. Another rush of images, but instead of incoherent colors, his world is presented in full technicolor. Along with his vision, his clarity returns too. He can see the man clearly this time. He’s standing in the middle of a flattened section of a corn field wearing black combat boots, black pants, and a thick black jacket.

To Cole’s astonishment the man he’s been watching this whole time, is him. No mistaking it, he is definitely Cole, but with slight differences. For one, he has a small scar on his cheek giving him a look of sinister seriousness. Another, his afro is just a little bit larger than Cole’s. As if waking from a dream Cole has the realization come over him, that he is also in the field, not fifteen feet in front of the man.

“Who are you?! What the hell is going on?!”

The doppelganger remains completely still not reacting to him at all. Cole advances towards him but stops when he hears calls and rustling in the corn behind him.

“He’s over here!” calls one voice.

“We have him surrounded!” calls another.

A group of men rush in through the cornfield from all directions. They come to a stop once they surround the doppelganger Cole. The first person to clear the brush came out of nowhere with a blast of speed. He’s obviously Asian, and dressed like he just came out of an anime. He has black spiky hair, wearing a red shiny jacket with a black hood attached. The next three men came into view a good five seconds after.

Next a man arrives wearing a yellow biohazard suit covering his whole body. Right after, a large man built like a bodybuilder wearing only some blue jeans torn from the knees down. Then a blonde man in a black jacket with a rugged face carrying what Cole believed to be some sort of strange coiled whip-like weapons. Lastly, straight out of a westerner, a boy wearing a cowboy hat strolling nonchalantly. He’s carrying two pistols in his hands like he’s not afraid of anything. None of the new arrivals seem to notice Cole standing in the middle of the group. Their attention is solely focused on this sinister looking Cole.

“You have nowhere to hide this time Cain! You’re surrounded!” calls a voice closing in from behind the cover of the cornfield. In a strange turn of events yet another version of Cole emerges into the site. He also is wearing the same black combat boots; although he has his own differences from the doppelganger. He doesn’t have the scar on his cheek, and his clothes are tattered from years of wear and tear. Cole doesn’t speak paralysed by these events.

The newly introduced doppelganger shouts pointing at the sinister-looking Cole, “Cain! Your time here is over! Men! Take this guy down before he can do anymore harm!”

Cain replies with a voice so malicious you could taste it, “So you’ve finally shown up Kole! I could feel my power swelling as you arrived, but six men against one? That hardly seems fair. Don't you have anyone else you can bring to your aid? No? You probably should!” Cain finishes with a long burst of laughter.

Cole has the urge to speak, but finds no sound comes out. He reaches to touch them, but only passes through them as a ghost. It seems he is just here for the show.

This must be a dream. But I’m dead, aren't I? Is this, hell?

The six rugged looking men take their stances preparing to fight Cain. Kole shouts waving his hand forward, emphasising every name, “Thunder, Rush, Toxic, Blazer, and Kiiiiid Cannon!! Let's show this guy what we're made of!”

The powers of the men swell in anticipation of the fight. Cole feels a physical pressure around him making the air dense.

What a strange feeling. Why is it hard to stand?

“Thunder take the lead!” commands the doppelganger Kole.

The large bodybuilder steps forward. With a grunt he flexes his muscles. Through his skin rock formations erupt tearing through his flesh creating a rock hard armor shell around his body.

Thunder charges Cain, thumping the ground with each step. He throws a slow and heavy punch. The corn stalks encapsulating the men bow as an intense wind pushes Cain to the side of Thunder’s punch. With Thunder’s heightened state and adrenaline pumping, everything seems to slow to a crawl. Even in slow motion his head can barely turn fast enough to watch as Cain passes by him. Cain’s face has a blank stare, as if peering into his soul. The moment seems to last forever. Cain’s voice whispers inside Thunder’s mind, “You are nothing… You are weak… Nothing without the help of your comrades…”

Stunned by the overwhelming thoughts swirling around in his head, Thunder brings up his arms protecting his face in anticipation of an impending blow. Time speeds up back to normal with Cain counter attacking with cheetah-like speed. Three quick punches fly hitting Thunder in the chest. Thunder finds he’s unaffected and can’t help but strike a silly pose. He lowers his hands to his hips taunting, “You can't hurt me, I'm as hard as stone! Your wind abilities have no effect on me!”

With the big man still striking his pose, Cain cranks back his right arm making a fist. A swirl of dense air shrouds his hand. He lunges forward with such a terrible speed Thunder has no time to react. Cain’s fist, superpowered by air, hits the rock giant hard in the jaw. The powerful attack lifts Thunder a few inches off the ground before sending him backwards to the ground. He crashes with such a heavy thud it shakes the Earth. Staggered, Thunder works to climb out of the crater his body created. He forces his jaw back in place causing gravel to fall from his face.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall?” says Cain on the verge of giggling.

The snide remark infuriates Thunder, “You will pay for that! There’s no way you can stand up to my strength!”

Cain grins holding his hands to the sky. His body rises six inches off the ground. He hovers for a moment before beckoning his opponent to attack. Again Thunder charges with his iconic thunderous sound, “Let's see if you can take this!”

Thunder has his enormous arms fully extended in front of him as if he were a kid playing superman. Cain lowers his hands wide readying to counter the blunt attack. A large swirling disc of air forms directly in front of his palms. It creates a circular shield made of what looks like a condensed cloud. With a crack of thunder, enormous rock fists hit the shield of swirling air. Thunder infuriated, pushes hard against the force field. His feet dig into the ground.

With a grin Cain says, “I’ve faced your group many times. You are all so, predictable... I love how in every dimension I conquer you think you can stand up to me alone.”

The air shield only bends slightly against the pressure. Thunder’s stone hands slowly eroding down due to the sheer pressure against the wind.

“I have you in my trap now!” yells Cain.

The corn stalks in the field bow down towards the battle as if in awe. The dirt around Thunder’s feet begins to swirl in a clockwise motion. The dust devil gets in his face making him squint and cough. Still undeterred Thunder continues to push against his foe. The trap is set. The dust rapidly grows fierce, turning into a tornado.

It erupts with such relentless capacity that it begins to erode away his armored skin. A gunshot fires from behind. The speeding bullet heading directly for Cain’s head. Clinnng! Cain sends a wind blade splitting the bullet in two, saving Cain and ricocheting off of Thunder’s cheek. The tornado dissipates allowing Thunder to be visible again. Cain, slightly taken aback, and still holding his right arm up says to himself, “That was too close. I must not be caught off guard.”

Thunder bellows, “Kid! Stay out of the way. I almost had him! This is my fight!”

The normally cool collected young man counters, “You were almost wiped out! What are you talking about?! You’re just lucky that I stepped in when I did!”

Blinded by rage Thunder pulls up a big rock out of the ground throwing it at Kid. Kid dodges with a confused look on his face. Unexpectedly, he becomes slightly overcome with nausea dropping to one knee. Whispers echo in his head, “Don't let him treat you like this... He’s just like all the other bullies growing up... You have always been thought less of just because you look like a kid... Now, stand up for yourself!”

Thunder takes a stance ready to charge towards Cain. Like a scene out of a western movie, Kid draws out his six shooters with lightning speed. The shot let off hits Thunder in the shoulder.

“Don't talk condescending to me you ignorant fool. I will put you in your place!” wails Kid.

Thunder, now completely checked out in a rage charges towards Kid. Kole jumps between attempting to stop the fight. Kole and Kid quickly get overtaken by the charging brutes’ arms. Knocked on their butts, they stumble to recover. Kid throws a punch at Kole missing horribly.

“I don't need your pity. I can handle myself just fine.” says Kid struggling to stay on his feet.

Kole replies, “What are you talking about?! Stop fighting each other! He has turned us against one another. You must remain focused. I taught you that united we are strong. Together we are a stronger force than any individual. He will pick us apart if we fight each other. Now snap out of it!”

The words only have a slight effect on the two. The three of them continue to exchange a plethora of words along with superficial blows. During the commotion Toxic had snuck up behind Cain using the cover of the cornfield. He removed his gloves letting a green cloud of gas creep out of his suit. He jumps from behind Cain placing his hand over his face. The gases flow out from inside the suit. Kole, wrestling Thunder’s armlock calls, “Rush! Blazer! Now!”

“You are pathetically predictable.” murmurs Cain.

Blazer and Rush charge Cain. Blazer pulls out his two whip-like weapons. They glow red hot as he swings them around with ninja-like moves. Baseball sized glowing balls form at the tip of the weapons. The balls ignite into a fiery light producing heavy tracers. In conjunction, Rush with his intense speed charges to the right of Cain in anticipation for a timed side attack. A similar red tracer flows behind him while he reaches maximum speed. He cranks back his fist.

Cain, seemingly stunned by the poisonous gas clouding his face, doesn't struggle. Rush aims his fist at Cain’s jaw. At the last possible second Cain gathers the gas cloud from his face into his hand, then thrusts his head back knocking Toxic tumbling to the ground. Cain uses the gas cloud forcing it down Rush’s throat.

Blazer reacts to the situation by hurling his weapons. Cain lifts his arms producing a blast of concentrated wind. It blasts away his weapons and sends Blazer to the ground covered in thousands of lacerations. Bleeding, he convulses on the ground writhing in pain. Cain turns using the same wind attack on Toxic. His biohazard suit tears to shreds. Gas seeping from the tears in the suit.

Three of the men had been taken out within moments. Overwhelmed, Kole struggles to wiggle his way out of Thunder’s grip.

Kid aims his pistol saying, “You think you're so tough. I know your weak spot!”

He fires a bullet directly into Thunder’s eye, taking him out instantly. The brute's massive body goes limp, falling forward, not giving the boy enough time to dodge crushing him. With Thunder’s last thunderous collapse the battlefield goes silent. The two doppelgangers, Cain and Kole, stand face to face.

Cain breaks the silence, “If you had practiced your other power you might have been able to stand a better chance. You might have been able to help your friends, but no, you are just, weak. Every time I kill you in another dimension I absorb the power. My power intensifies in a way that you could never understand. How could you hope to stand a chance?”

“No! I will stop you now! Your tyranny stops here!”

Two separate tornadoes quickly develop engulfing the men. Their wind clashing in different directions as they power up. Sparks of lightning shoot out from the combined storms, catching the surrounding crops on fire. Cain thrusts his hands out to his side then slowly pushes them closer, crushing an invisible ball. The sky above them turns black. A tremendous amount of wind enters the battle ground extinguishing the flames. Kole sways his arms around intensifying his tornado.

Cain yells, “Is that the best you can do?! This ends now!”

He squeezes his hands together, interlocking his fingers. A much larger black tornado forms high in the air. It’s attack focusing down onto Kole. Kole quickly reacts by throwing one arm up above him, then swirling his hand in the opposite direction of the tornado. Lightning ignites violently in all directions.

Cain continues his assault by throwing a barrage of wind blades at Kole as he struggles to counter the black tornado. Kole defends by sending wind blades of his own. He slices through dozens of them, but the onslaught by Cain is unforgiving. The attacks become more powerful wearing Kole down. Not able to simultaneously counter both attacks, Kole takes deep cuts throughout his body. His wounds bleed profusely, yet he’s not covered in blood. The powerful wind constantly absorbs the blood into the air. Cain steps back to watch as his wondrous attacks take effect. Kole struggles to counter the tornado as his will gives out to the tremendous pressure. His arms fall to his side, allowing the black storm to consume him, disintegrating him to bones.

Cain laughs obnoxiously loud, shaking his hands at the sky, ”I can feel his energy flowing through my veins! This power! I had no idea that the power increase could reach these levels! I haven't felt a sensation like this since the first time.”

Cole still watching, frozen in awe, thinks to himself, Oh no! Here it comes again! The light, then the pain!

Again, an aura forms around Cain. It intensifies creating the similar bright light he saw before in the other images. Cain screams all the air in his lungs clenching his fists together. Then all at once he disappears leaving what could only be described as a gap in reality, in the shape of a man. Cole is blinded when the gap explodes with intense shattered light. Again, a ringing sound with a headache so strong Cole can't help but to scream. He pulls himself into the fetal position clenching his teeth, and squeezing his head. The pain vanishes faster than it came. Another realization comes over him. Yes the bright light still exists, but where he was, is not where he is now.

Is this another vision? A dream?

Almost as soon as he had reached this conclusion he realized he was naked lying on the chilled hard ground. A deep voice speaks next to him, “Don’t worry I’m a friend. Welcome to a journey of new dimensions. We will find unseen places, that ultimately are true.”

A hooded dark skinned man wearing a blue robe hands Cole a blanket. His hood covers his face concealing his identity. The hooded man speaks with an eerily familiar voice, “I stole you, brought you here to prepare you for the adventure ahead. We can't allow Cain to continue.”

Cole sits up taking his surroundings in. An endlessly flat land, glowing white. The floor is white and smooth. It's hard as marble, almost luminescent, but feels of polished glass. The sky is grey with no defining features. No plants, no clouds, no sun, just an impossibly endless flat land as far as the eye can see.

“Where am I?” questions Cole.

“You have arrived in a place I could only describe as between dimensions...”

“You can hear me? You can see me! Wait what? Between dimensions? Am I dead? What were those things I saw?”

The hooded man helps lift Cole up to his feet while speaking, “Come with me, let's get you some clothes. You have many questions, and I have much to teach you.”

The hooded man walks past Cole towards a colossal structure that Cole didn’t notice before. It alone is the one distinguishing element in this endless world. It’s a giant white glass looking building made of the same material as the ground. With a large dome it bears a similar resemblance to the Taj Mahal. Four massive pillars tower at the corners of the building. Cole stands in astonishment of this beautiful structure for just a moment, then chases the mysterious man. With each step closer the building radiates its size. Towards the bottom of the structure a large glass hallway greets them inside.

Continuing down the corridor a beautiful woman smiles at them through a doorway. She is of middle eastern descent with brown eyes. Her hair, similar to the land, is white. Her size is small, yet her muscle tone is fitting. This is no ordinary woman though. She is an ethereal being, transparent and glowing white just like the rest of the world. White flames flicker off her white dress like a goddess.

Cole questions, “Uhh is she supposed to be on fire?”

“Yes of course. Beautiful isn’t she?”

“Why is she smiling at us like that?”

“It's probably because you're naked.”

Cole quickly reaches for the blanket to cover himself. Instead he finds himself to be fully clothed in a blue robe, just like the man before him.

“Whoa! How did you do that?”

“Ha! It’s all a matter of perception. Were you ever really naked? Are you really clothed right now?”

“Fine keep your secrets. What I really want to know is what she is.”

“No worries, you will meet her soon enough. The entities who live on this plane are called watchers. Please let me continue and all your questions will be answered. The one thing we needed more of, is time. I have stolen you from time, and brought you here to train. Once we have trained you mentally, physically, and spiritually we will send you back to a specific time and place. I will teach you how to harness your willpower, your inner strength. How to control your destiny. We need you to be ready for Cain so you don't end up like the others you saw.”

“Yes, the others. Those images. Who’s Cain? What was it exactly that I was seeing?”

“What you saw were other dimensions that exist simultaneously with ours. Each dimension differs slightly from the rest. The name of the evil man you saw is Cain. He has devised a way to break through the dimensional barriers. Every time he does so, he finds his doppelganger in another dimension, then kills them. All the energy of this person gets absorbed into the dimensional Coles. Each time he does this his power grows. Although, each time he also loses a piece of who he once was, making him darker in his intent. Once he creates an unbalance in the dimension it creates a dimensional rift. The rift tries to close itself allowing two parts of the universe to touch, which should have never been possible. It causes a black hole ultimately destroying that universe. He will stop at nothing to destroy you, and the rest of the universes.”

“Me?! Why me?”

“You are special, although right now you don't quite know it. Once your training has been completed I will send you back. The problem with leaving this pocket dimension is all of your memories will be erased. Just as in a dream. Your memories of Cain, your memories of everything I will teach you here, but your training will remain. When you return to the physical realm, having traveled through the dimensions in this way your memories will be wiped clean. This is why I will teach you how to master your powers to the point where it will be instinct to use them. You will go back to the world having the tools to succeed. It is possible as you go through your travels some of your memories will come back to you. Though you will have to force their existence back into your mind.”

Just about to respond, yet another rush of colors confronts Cole. This time however, there is no pain. He feels light-headed along with the overwhelming sensation of falling. A rush of memories flash through his mind. A memory of him meditating next to the unknown hooded figure. Then another of him in the middle of combat training with the woman on fire.

The hooded man stops him saying, “It's time. I am going to send you back now. You’ve learned everything I can teach you.”

The white world he knew for such a long time now slowly fades into a comfortable black.