It had been half an hour of silent flying for Desmond and the four people who had taken him from The Silverfields. He had a lot of doubts and an even bigger number of worries, but had no choice except to comply.
"Just in case you think about escaping or jumping off randomly, let me tell you that your shoes are tethered by the powers of all four of us. Even if you manage to break one link, the rest three will hold." Clara warned, looking him dead in the eye.
"Can I ask you a question?" Desmond asked.
"No."
"Why me? What do you see in me that you just had to take me? I'm nobody special. I literally have nothing extraordinary in me."
"I have my orders. Besides, that mask you were wearing responded to you."
"What do you mean, 'responded to me'? It didn't do anything special."
"Did you not see it glow? It was radiating power."
"So what? Your weapons do the same thing."
"Those weapons respond to anyone with powers. That's why the knives you were holding radiated power. That mask doesn't do that."
"Okay okay... WHAT?! The weapons respond only to those with powers?!"
"Yes. Even the smallest amount of infection surging in you is more than enough to activate it. But its power depends on the amount of infection or how much of it is actually unlocked. You were melting the robots in single strikes, so it's pretty obvious that you have a lot of power. You're just as infected as we are."
"But how? I don't even know how to use them."
"It just happens randomly in the beginning. The control part comes later."
"And what about the mask? What do you mean it doesn't respond to anybody?"
"That mask belonged to Corbin. It only responded to him."
"Who the heck is Corbin? Why should I care about some random dude?"
As soon as he said those words, the whole party stopped flying, and each of them drew their weapons, priming them right at Desmond. A scythe, an axe, two pistols and a sword were inches away from his head, ready to strike at an instant's notice. Desmond gulped, instantly unnerved by the sudden aggression.
"Beware of how you speak about him. If not for him, the world would've been thrown into chaos long ago." Clara growled, her sword a deadly layer to her threat.
"Noted." Desmond muttered, deciding that arguing with four obviously dangerous people wasn't worth the risk.
"I don't care if you're his descendant. Measure your words carefully when you speak about him." Ralph said, his voice ice cold.
"Hold up. His descendant? I don't even know this guy!" Desmond protested.
"Doesn't matter. If that mask responded to you, then you're one of his descendants. His mask won't randomly react to anyone. It has stayed dormant for hundreds of years. Many have tried and failed to awaken it. You did it without having a shred of knowledge about your powers. Obviously, it means something."
"Just because that mask was glowing red doesn't mean I'm related or anything. Also, even if I am, what has that got to do with you? If he's my descendant, cool. I don't really care."
"You wanna go back to your wife?"
"Of course!"
"Then shut up and come along. You'll get your answers when we get to our place. Save some energy, dude."
Desmond glared at Ralph, and he glared back at him. The other 3 people were kind of surprised, because in that moment, Desmond looked ready to fight Ralph.
"Try throwing a punch. I dare you." Ralph said, his eyes narrowed.
"You asked for it." Desmond retorted as he pulled his hand back, preparing to smash his head off. But before he could throw the punch or Ralph could use the violent ball of shadow energy that had suddenly appeared in his palm, Clara stepped in between them.
"If you start a fight right now, I'll put you both down in an instant!" she said with a tone so fierce that they instantly made peace, valuing their lives above a petty fight.
"We'll settle this later." Ralph said, the shadow ball dissipating from his hand as he turned away from Desmond. Desmond didn't reply, but the fire in his eyes still remained, making his feelings pretty clear.
"Misaki, let's continue. We can't be late." Clara said and Misaki nodded in agreement. The whole party started flying again, a bit faster this time. Desmond's mind was clouded in doubts and concerns as they progressed further to the unknown destination. He had no clue what powers he had in him or what abilities he had that could make him stand out from others.
"This whole thing is a mistake. You'll see." he said, looking at Clara. She didn't say a word and looked away, focusing on the sky ahead. Desmond looked ahead as well, the horizons opening a new world of possibilities for his life as he was unwillingly being taken away from his home to a place he was totally unaware of. He didn't want to be away from his family, and his thoughts could only drift to one place...
"I wonder what Helen's doing..."
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Within another 15 minutes, they landed on the ground, right at the edge of a huge cliff. The night sky was filled with stars, and the moon was shining bright above, shaped like a crescent. All that was visible below the cliff was an infinite number of trees and pitch black darkness. They were at least 5000 meters high and at the outskirts of the country, though he had no idea why he knew that. The wind was blowing fast, and their clothes were fluttering violently in the wind. Desmond's jacket was flowing with the wind, and in that moment, it looked as if he was on a legendary quest or something.
"Feeling a bit fancy, are we?" Ralph asked, looking at Desmond.
"About what?" he asked, confused.
"You're acting all heroic and stuff. Mind you, we're here for some serious business."
"All villains say this exact dialogue in the movies."
"Oh my God..." Ralph groaned, planting his palms on his face, then screamed, "WE'RE NOT THE ENEMY, YOU DIMWIT!!!"
"You just kidnapped me from my house and put me in dangerous situations twice! You're definitely not my savior either, you donut!"
"Knock it off, you two!" Clara shouted. The two of them shut up immediately, not wanting to be killed by Clara.
"You're lucky that the higher ups want to see you and that Clara is around. Or else I would've beat the life out of you." Ralph said, looking at Desmond dead in the eye.
"Big talk from someone looking like a fish." Desmond fired back. Ralph narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, hoping for a witty response to pop up in his head. But nothing came out, and he just stood there, open mouthed and angry looking.
"Shut that mouth of yours before some unfortunate bug decides to go inside, you absolute prick." Desmond said, turning away from him as he looked at the horizon, trying not to laugh. Ralph closed his mouth immediately and looked at his friends, who to his surprise, were also trying not to laugh.
"YOU'RE SUPPORTING HIM?!" he shouted, furious.
"I mean... it was a good one." Clara said, controlling herself. Ralph closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Meanwhile, Misaki gave Desmond a black crystal shard that was glowing red on the inside.
"What is this?" Desmond asked, curious. The sudden politeness and curiosity in Desmond's character annoyed Ralph even more.
"You can't enter our area normally. You'll need this crystal. It kind of serves as an ID Card." Misaki said. Desmond nodded and put it in his jacket's pocket, keeping it safe.
"Well then, shall we jump?" Clara asked. Desmond nodded first, then the realization of what she said dawned on him. He looked at the other three people, and saw that they weren't bothered in the least by that.
"What do you mean, 'jump'? You're not talking about jumping off the cliff, are you?" Desmond asked, signs of panic clearly audible in his voice.
"I am." Clara replied.
"WHY?!"
"To enter our base, jackass."
Desmond didn't want to jump off a cliff, even if he looked kind of cool while standing on the edge of it. Ralph could sense the hesitation, and he smirked as he stepped closer to him. Desmond had no clue that Ralph was right behind him.
"Oh come on, it's just a cliff. Let me help you." he said as he pushed Desmond off. Without hesitation, he followed too, laughing as he heard Desmond scream a lot of curses and swears directed at him.
"GIMME A STICK! I'LL WHACK HIS HEAD OFF!" was what Desmond was screaming as he saw Clara and the others jump off as well. Clara dived like a jet though, streamlining her body and making her descent much faster than the others. Meanwhile, Desmond had his arms and legs outstretched to the limit, trying to slow his pace down by any means possible.
"Have faith, Desmond! You won't be injured!" Clara shouted as she came closer to Desmond.
"Injured?! I'm more likely to die from the impact force!" he shouted back, making Ralph laugh even more. Something about his constant laughing really annoyed Desmond.
"STOP LAUGHING BEFORE I SLAP THAT UGLY FACE OF YOURS!" he screamed, and that instantly ruined Ralph's mood.
"IS THAT HOW YOU TALK TO YOUR KIDNAPPER?!" Ralph shouted back.
"Well, pardon me for my inexperience 'cause I HAVEN'T EVER BEEN KIDNAPPED BEFORE!"
"This brat. I'll kill him." he thought, ignoring Desmond's curses for the moment. As Desmond fell towards the abyss below, the crystal in his jacket pocket started shining brightly inside. He barely had time to look at it before a huge cloud of red smoke suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him, surrounding him with turbulent winds and forces.
"What the fu-" Desmond shouted, unable to continue further as smoke clouded around his face quickly.
"Chill out. It's just a portal. Helps us hide from the Light Force. What's up with you complaining every now and then?" Ralph asked, him being the only one who heard it since he was the only one around for the moment. They were both in a red tunnel, with Desmond bouncing around awkwardly while Ralph was steadily descending downwards.
"You just have to let out short streams of your power. You'll automatically stabilize." Ralph suggested, trying to help him.
"Man, I don't know how to use a shred of my power!" Desmond replied, trying his best not to be shot around like a bouncing ball.
"Then this is your first step. Close your eyes and try not to think of anything else. Try to look within yourself and yourself alone. Try imagining yourself in isolation, you being the only person alive. Without some insight into yourself, you won't really be able to get the powers out."
"This is like another one of the movies. How is meditation supposed to draw out my powers?"
"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT?!"
Desmond first stared at him as he kept bouncing around, then he took a deep breath.
"Let me try." he said before closing his eyes as he shifted his focus onto himself. Ralph watched him as he slowly went into a state of tranquility, the sounds slowly fading away, the bumps slowly becoming unimportant, and the world fading into nothing but darkness. Desmond's surroundings slowly shifted into blurs and streaks of color, his senses slowly quietening down and relaxing as the bumps just turned into trivial disturbances, sounds died down and he went in a trance.
"What did you do to him?" a commanding voice asked from behind Ralph. He turned around and saw Clara, Misaki and Mike descending towards him, slow and steady.
"I just told him to forget about everything around him. He has to unlock at least a bit of the power he has." he replied.
"Have you lost your mind? It took He Who Prevails four days of meditation to unlock his own power! This kid will take at least twice the time!"
"Well, he's not He Who Prevails, is he? Let's see if he has what it takes."
"But-"
"I think Ralph is right, commander. We don't know if destroying those robots was just a fluke. The mask probably returned some memories of Corbin or something. This way, we would be able to check if he really is the one we need." Misaki said, siding with Ralph.
"I agree too." Mike chimed in, leading to Clara pressing her head in dismay.
"Fine, I won't say anything." Clara said, and that kind of relieved Ralph.
"That's great. Now, all we-"
"But if I sense even the slightest bit of danger on him, I'll take action."
Ralph's eyes narrowed in irritation almost instantly, but he didn't say a word against it. He just looked at Desmond as he kept bouncing around like a crazed, uncontrolled projectile - albeit a living one.
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Desmond woke up to absolute nothingness around him, just as Ralph had told him to do. The world around him was nothing but pitch black darkness, and there was thick, grey sand at his feet. His feet felt heavy and weak, and the sand seemed to drag him downwards, trying to slow him down.
"Hey, I didn't imagine any annoying sand forming at my feet." Desmond thought, a bit clueless about it. Far away from him, he could see a faint light shining red.
"What's that?" he thought as he struggled and walked towards that light, wondering what it was. To his surprise, the light was also getting closer to him at a fast pace, even though his own progress towards it was really slow. The light became brighter and brighter, but a mound of sand was always blocking his vision to see what that light actually was.
"This stupid sand... I can't see what that light is." he thought in frustration as he walked towards it, struggling to move against the heavy sand. The light though, had no such problems and was progressing effortlessly, as if there was no sand beneath it at all.
"How is it not bothered by... oh wait. Sand doesn't bother light. I'M SO STUPID!!!!" Desmond screamed in his head as the light slowly climbed the mound of sand, coming towards Desmond steadily. He was walking like a duck now, trying not to get stuck in one place as he kept trying to walk ahead with all his effort. The sand was slowly annoying him, and he was on the verge of letting loose a huge string of curses and swears. But all of that frustration faded as soon as the light got closer to him, nearing the top of the sand pile. As Desmond stopped moving to look at what it was, it stepped out of the sand pile, and he just stared at the thing with wide eyes, like a baby who just saw something shiny.
"What in the world is happening? I just wanna go home, man." Desmond thought when he saw it, because it looked exactly like him, except that it was entirely made of black and dark red shadow energies. The light was basically coming off a clone of himself, but it didn't have any facial features. The face was plain, like a mannequin. Before Desmond could react or even think of doing anything, the clone exploded with a big flash, blinding him for a good few moments. The flash was so bright that even though his eyes were closed, all he could see was a huge flash of white light. When he opened his eyes again, all he could see was fuzzy, yellow images of whatever was around.
"Now, what the heck is this?" he thought, shaking his head as he tried to bring his head back to focus. The flash really messed up his senses, but the surroundings were slowly getting more clear. The clone however, was nowhere to be seen anymore. Desmond turned in all directions, trying to look for it, but the clone had just disappeared in thin air, not leaving a hint of presence.
Sighing, he looked up in the sky, and saw that a red and black orb of shadow energy was floating above him. The orb was pulsing and bubbling, brimming with power. The way it was randomly contracting and expanding in quick succession made it clear that the thing was basically as volatile as a bomb. But something about the orb was beckoning to Desmond, almost as if it was waiting to be taken. Desmond stretched his hand out towards it, curious as to what it was. But as soon as he reached out his fingers, a deep and ancient voice suddenly spoke, startling him quite a bit.
"The powers you seek... Do you comprehend how dangerous they are? How unstable they can be? How potent their effects can be?"
"WHO'S THERE?!" Desmond screamed, jumping back as if dodging some attack. The orb stayed above his head, following him to his current position.
"That doesn't matter. Answer my question. Do you realize the very depth of the powers you seek? They are gifts meant to be used for noble purposes. Do you realize what you're stepping up for?" the voice asked again, putting Desmond's question aside.
"I don't even know if I have the powers you say I possess. Everyone's making a big fuss about it. I don't really know!" he replied, confused.
"The amount of power you possess is abnormally high. I have seen people possess large amounts of it before, but to think that someone would possess so much that it would just integrate into the body is very strange."
"Then why can't I sense it? Where is all this power?"
"Dormant, waiting to be unleashed. You slacking off on activating them has been the reason for it."
"Slacking off? I didn't even know I had them!"
"Nevertheless, they're dormant because you have never used them, even unknowingly. Your ignorance, though not your fault, has been the reason for it."
"Then how did I activate those knives and that mask?"
"The body is just a vessel for the power, and no vessel is airtight. Some of it is bound to leak out and stay active. That is what happened with you."
"Then how do I gain the rest?"
"I can only grant you some of what you really posses. However, the rest unlocks only through sheer commitment to mastering your powers. They don't just randomly appear."
"And there is no other way?"
"Not really. If there is one, I'm not aware of it."
Both of them didn't speak anything for a few moments. But then Desmond suddenly asked, "By the way, who the heck are you?"
There was an awkward moment of silence between the two of them, and Desmond had no idea what to say next. But that didn't last very long, as the voice itself spoke up.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS, YOU LITTLE RUNT?! YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM?!"
The voice was furious, huffing and puffing with anger. Desmond though, just stared at the orb with wide eyes, fascinated by the random bursts of energy coming off from it.
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" the voice boomed.
"Not really." he replied, shrugging. The voice was silent for a few moments, then when it spoke again, it had the previous, calm demeanor again.
"The people you are with at the moment would probably know what to do to get your powers awakened. Listen to what they say, and follow their instructions carefully." it said.
"That's what they said. You're one of them?" Desmond asked, curious.
"I used to be. Before I died."
Desmond didn't respond to that, but the spirit continued.
"Had I known that such dire circumstances would come to pass in the future, I would've already done something... But it's up to you now. My time is already up."
"What dire circumstances? What do you mean?"
"My brother. He's biding time, gathering power. You can't let him succeed, Desmond Hunt. You're the last of my bloodline and the most powerful that has ever been born. You have to save them all."
"I have no idea what you're talking about! What do you mean I have to save them?!"
"My time is almost up. I can't stay any longer."
"No wait!, I-"
"Our race is now in your hands. Let's see what you do with them."
As soon as the voice said that, the orb floating above slowly came right in front of Desmond, shaking even more violently now. There was an intense aura around it, smoking red and emitting black waves of shadows.
"That's a small portion of your power. Take it, and walk the path of your destiny. Become who you're supposed to be, Desmond Hunt. Take what's yours, and lead the world to the path of righteousness and light." the voice said, a tinge of earnestness in it. Desmond's eyes narrowed first, then he stretched out his hand again, opening the palm. The orb floated over and rested on his palm, and to his surprise, instead of burning his hand away as he thought it would, it felt warm and comfortable.
"How do I use these powers?" he asked.
"You'll know. It just happens naturally." the voice replied as the orb suddenly burst open. Out of it, several red and black shadows shot out and enveloped Desmond completely, circling around him violently as the entire surrounding area shook with force.
"Godspeed to you, Desmond Hunt. I hope you'll be the one to end this fight once and for all." the voice said as another bright flash blinded Desmond, making him close his eyes and turn away.
"What fight? What do you mean by that? HEY, STOP!" Desmond shouted, trying to know what the mystery was all about. But when he opened his eyes again, he wasn't in the dark, sandy place, but was back inside in the shadow tunnel, bouncing around without any kind of control. Ralph saw him gain consciousness, and his eyes lit up in excitement. Desmond's red eyes were glowing with power now, and his right hand's veins were also glowing.
"It seems there's been some progress." Ralph said as he saw Desmond raise his hand up in the air, much to the surprise of the other three. They could only keep staring at him in surprise, as he somehow stopped randomly flying and bumping into the walls and stabilized right at the center, floating in the air like the other three.
"What in the world am I watching?" Clara asked, unable to take her eyes off Desmond.
"A miracle?" Ralph replied, laughing as he looked at Desmond. Misaki and Mike were completely speechless, unable to understand how he was able to float and stabilize himself without any sort of training or exposure to his own powers.
"There's no way he should have such control over his powers. Such fine precision only comes from years of training!" Misaki exclaimed. Ralph kept laughing, but it seemed that fate agreed with Misaki as well. As soon as she spoke her words, Desmond lost control and tumbled down again, falling in a steady straight path.
"I THOUGHT I HAD IT!" he screamed as he kept falling, not able to control it in any way possible. Clara dived at him, flying fast as she shot streams of energy behind her to dash forward, diving at serious speed.
"Hang on, Desmond!" she shouted as she slowly kept closing the distance between them. In his panic though, Desmond accidentally channeled a lot of power in his right hand and slashed in front of him. Like some tinfoil, the space in front of him tore open and turned into a huge portal.
"The heck?!" Ralph thought as his eyes widened at the sight that he saw. They were in a dimension completely isolated from external powers, reinforced with continuous streams of energy coupled tightly. Somehow, Desmond tore it open as if it was made of cream or something. Desmond however, was unable to control himself and crossed the portal, flying outside as Clara chased, trying to save him. They were at least 500 meters in the air, and he was literally free falling unlike the others with him.
"SOMEBODY HELP!" he screamed at the top of his voice. Clara reached for her jacket, looking for something in its pocket.
"Stretch your arms out! Try to slow down!" she shouted, but Desmond's head was already in a state of utter panic. He had no idea what to do, and he definitely couldn't hear anything over the terror he was feeling. Ralph, Misaki and Mike crossed the portal as well, and it sealed itself instantly.
"Dang it! He opened the portal too early. The tunnel wasn't adjusted to ground level yet." Ralph said, cursing himself as he dived towards a freaked out Desmond. Meanwhile, Clara yelled in frustration as she took her hands out of her jacket pocket.
"I didn't bring ropes! Link his legs with your powers, Misaki!" she ordered.
"That device has already been detached! It's no longer there on his leg!" Misaki shouted back.
"WHAT?!"
"I don't know what happened! It suddenly short-circuited!"
Gritting her teeth in anger, Clara kept diving at Desmond, who was just about 200 meters away from the ground.
"Not like this... I don't wanna fail like this!" Clara thought in agony as she struggled to find more speed. She had already spent a lot of her powers in causing the big distraction at The Silverfields and was running on fumes, using whatever power she had in boosting herself towards Desmond.
"Clara, what are you doing?! Shoot forward!" Ralph shouted, confused at Clara not using her powers.
"I have no juice left!" she shouted back, trying to gain on Desmond as fast as she could. Ralph didn't waste any time as a thick string of shadows formed in his hand and shot itself at Desmond.
"Please just make it in time." Ralph thought to himself as the string flew directly at his target, splitting streams of air as it progressed further and further. However, Misaki focused her eyes on Desmond and sensed something strange from his body - something raw and dangerous.
"Ralph... Pull your rope away! Now!" she shouted, suddenly alarmed.
"What?! What are you talking about?!" he shouted back, confused. All of them were looking at Desmond, waiting for Ralph's rope to reach him as it whizzed past Clara, closing in at a very fast pace. However, only Misaki could see that Desmond's hand was glowing red and he had an aura of dark shadows coming off him. When she looked at his eyes, all she could see was a menacing, red glow.
"What even is that?" she thought, unable to understand what was going on. As they all looked on, trying to save Desmond, a cloud of red and black shadows suddenly engulfed him in mid-air and a huge burst of thick, red smoke flew up in the air, clouding everyone's vision.
"What the... smoke?" Clara thought, covering her mouth as she coughed in the smoke. Ralph and the others too dived into the smoke, covering their faces and trying to look around, confused and blind. The smoke was extremely dense and blood red in color. Nothing was visible at all.
"Where did this smoke come from?" Ralph asked, looking at Misaki.
"I have no idea. Maybe he did it." she replied, hinting at Desmond. Clara stopped diving fast and opened her arms and legs, slowing down gradually. As Ralph and the others came beside her, they shot out of the smoke, distorting the thick, red cloud around them. Ralph used his rope and bound Clara and the others, stabilizing them and making them descend slow and steady. Clara looked around frantically, searching for Desmond. He had just vanished from thin-air, leaving no traces either.
"Where the heck is he?!" Clara shouted in frustration. To that, Ralph just touched her shoulder and pointed downwards. Clara raised her eyebrows and looked down, only for her eyes to widen in surprise. Misaki and Mike were looking there too, and they were just as shocked as she was. As they were slowly descending from a hundred meters in the air, they could see Desmond standing on the grassland below, his eyes completely red and his right hand glowing bright. There was the aura of shadows that Misaki saw earlier coming off him, identical to the one they themselves had during combat. In the fierce wind and dark atmosphere, he looked pretty deadly. His jacket was fluttering like crazy, and the shadows coming off him were creating a thick, black smoke at his feet.
"This guy genuinely looks scary." Mike said as he grabbed his axe from his back, just in case.
"He teleported from the air to the ground. Just like that." Clara said, her eyes still not believing what they were looking at.
"Well, he's an infected all right. No mistakes about that." Ralph said, shrugging.
"A dangerous one, Ralph. The first skill he has learned is Teleportation. That's a very complex skill even for veterans. Even He Who Prevails learned cloning first, and that's the simplest of skills." Misaki said, clearly bothered by the sudden change in what she saw in him, "I have a bad feeling about this. He definitely is an Infected, but are we sure he's the one we're looking for?"
"He's not Corvin. Why are you judging him over such petty things? It's not like he's supposed to live his life exactly like Corvin, right?" Ralph asked, annoyed at her statement. Misaki didn't have anything to say against that, so she looked at Desmond as they all landed on the ground. The light was gone from his eyes, and he was no longer emitting any dark aura. He looked pretty human now, and there were no signs of his Infected powers coming from him. However, he looked pretty burned out and tired, his arms weak and his breath weak.
"I... have no idea how I did it." Desmond said, his voice hoarse.
"It happens. Let's get you some rest first." Ralph said, placing his hand on Desmond's shoulder. Energy flowed off it and entered his body, giving him some relief from the fatigue he suddenly felt.
"I must say... Impressive debut." Mike said, slapping Desmond's back in appreciation. Desmond stumbled a few steps ahead, but caught himself before he could fall on his face.
"Dude! You almost broke my back!" he croaked. Mike laughed, and that made Ralph laugh as well.
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!" Desmond shouted, and that made the two of them laugh even more. Meanwhile, Misaki and Clara were conjuring up a symbol looking like a bright red Chinese Dragon. Both of them were talking in hushed voices, making sure the other three didn't hear them.
"Kid is strange. Teleportation as the first skill is kind of crazy." Clara admitted.
"I have my doubts, Commander. We'll address it some other time, though." Misaki said. Clara nodded, then turned to the boys.
"Let's go! We're already quite late!" she shouted. Ralph nodded, still laughing with Mike as all three walked towards her. Desmond was showing some serious proficiency in swearing at Ralph.
"Is the door ready yet?" Mike asked.
"What door?" Desmond asked. As if an answer to his question, the ground rumbled and shook, throwing Desmond off balance for a few moments.
"WHOA!!" he exclaimed, trying to find his footing on the ground and stay firm. Meanwhile, everyone else was standing steady without any sort of problems, as if this was just another event in their lives. In an attempt to control himself, Desmond imagined very small streams of power coming off his hands, controlling his balance. Misaki looked at him as he radiated with power again, the black shadows coming off him as energy came off his hands on both sides, helping him stay balanced on the place he was standing. All of a sudden, a huge stone door erupted from the door and slowly drew itself to full length. It was at least 5 meters in height and was really wide, enough to fit and army of humans. The door slid open horizontally and revealed another portal, through which nothing was visible. Desmond could feel something strange in the air now - something powerful. The surroundings felt charged, and the portal itself looked really ancient and had an energy to it that he could only feel but not understand.
"For the record, Desmond,", Ralph warned, "you better believe me when I tell you...
you're about to see the coolest stuff you've ever laid eyes upon in your life."