THE MULTIVERSAL CRIMINAL

Chapter 34: The Final Battle

There was a commotion inside. Chaotic. Dissonant. Everything was rushed. They were questioning Jarka. They were in dire need of a plan. It was Juvo they were against. And this time, they didn't have the robot army or one of the Gods to have their back. This time they had nothing but their wit and weapons to accompany them in this fight. Juvo was not alone. He still had some of his followers left with him.

"How will you handle him? He is ferocious right now! Jarka, what were you thinking provoking him like that?" Lily said, intensely. Her eyes were hovering over him with an underlined glint of uncertainty.

They were all restless. It was like they had wound up the clock of their life after it had ticked off. They couldn't risk losing this second chance. Probabilistically speaking, Jarka had done the right thing. He had successfully averted the impending attack on their ship. He had saved their ship. But it still left them unsafe. Very unsafe.

Jarka did not answer Lily rightaway. He turned the other way, pretending to do anything else. But he managed a reply nonetheless. "I did what I felt would best suit the situation. I... have trust in you all. And I trust Him. I trust Kahaden. I trust in my destiny. In our destiny. We are meant for more. So much more... Juvo won't be the end of us. It will be the other way around." He placed a hand of assurance on Lily's. "Believe in yourself, and your comrades." He nodded with his lips curled inwards and left her to absorb what he had just said.

And as if in response to Jarka's taunt, they saw Juvo exit his ship. His ship receded and faded away from view in the distance, leaving Juvo alone in the void, hovering above the green world of symbiosis. Unknown to Juvo, this world was familiar with his enemies. And probably for the best.

Juvo had not aboard on his ship any spacesuits. He did not have the need to use any had he gained what he desired. But there were always the emergency suits in the ejection pods. And the situation had called for one.

"He is probably very aggressive after what you said to him, Jarka. I need you all to be very alert and judge by his every move. You are vulnerable out there. Your life support is your biggest vulnerability. As is his. Mind it," Sanduo said, his palms pressed on the table, levering his body.

"And he knows that too," said Lily. "So we have to be deliberate."

"COME ON!" they heard him scream through the communication feed.

They looked at the speakers with curled brows, then they looked towards the direction the airlock was. "Okay then. Take up your arms. We are all going to- no." Sanduo halted. "Sierra, Drio. You two won't be going. You don't have enough combat experience."

"But I am trained! Like Jayden!" Sierra pleaded.

"Sierra, you are in no age to fight someone like him. Even with all of us. Back there it was his subordinates. That was different."

"I... I can't bear to watch you all fight for your lives all over again when we just got it back!"

Sierra's words hit Drio. He didn't want to fight. He never wanted to fight. He was happy with his research and maneuvers from the safety of their ship's interior. So he chose not to say anything. He did not want to accept the fact. But it was cowardice.

"I don't want to hear anything. Shut off the windows if it disturbs you that much!" Sanduo said, disturbed yet distressed by the fact. It upset him. Sierra had always been the tough choice. He commanded to everyone, "Leave. Right now!"

"Yes sir!" They gave him a quick salute and went towards the airlock, leaving Sierra in a mess of sobbing with Drio failing to give her any consolation.

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The airlock opened in a steady manner alighting their bodies with the light of the planet below and the star right in front of them. It was quite a sight. Taking a deep breath in, they jumped off the edge and fired their thrusters.