Vol.2 Chapter 6: Garon’s Warning

Vol.2 Chapter 6: Garon’s Warning

I called Larry to come pick me up in the air taxi, but I rode back to Jolene and Tallia's house alone in the back seat. So much had happened over the last few days, but it really felt like things should start to cool down again. Not like I could take it easy though. My fight with Garon and using my Penultimate Primordial System had shown me that I had to get stronger.

The recon team had almost gotten hurt, and I was still counting my stars because Garon decided to fight in an open, and unpopulated area. If the fight would have been near a town or city... I didn't want to think about how many people would have died without even knowing why. That bugged me as it should, and my only solution was to train more and get stronger.

Once we set down, I paid Larry and thanked him for the ride before getting out and heading into Jolene's house. The place was empty, but I wanted a safe place to enter Prisma. After looking around aimlessly for a moment, I closed my eyes, and entered Prisma. Before I could even open them, I was tackled off my feet, hit my multiple bodies.

"You are back!" Popsicle cried out as her and Lumi gripped me the tightest, but Knighty, Leilani, and Finny were also part of the Pokémon pile up. They were smothering and crushing me with their combination of thick thighs and chest pillows, but I refused to call out and resigned myself to death since I had reached nirvana.

Though, Joy and Jolene came over and peeled the girls off me, narrowly saving my life. Could have been much worse, but while struggling to regain my breath, I was also struggling to figure out if such a situation could be made better? Probably not what I should be pondering at the moment, but lack of oxygen to the brain can make a man a bit loopy sometimes.

"Landon? Are you okay?" Joy asked as she and Jolene helped me to my feet.

I managed to catch my breath and nodded, grinning at the concerned faces surrounding me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, I guess."

Jolene chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, it's good to see you back. You must be exhausted after everything that's happened."

I rubbed the back of my neck, thinking about all the battles and confrontations. "Yeah, it's been a whirlwind. But it's also made me realize how much more I need to train and prepare. There's a lot at stake."

Joy's expression softened. "We'll all help you, Landon. You're not alone in this."

Lumi, who had been quiet until now, floated forward. "What do we need to do to get started training?"

I took a deep breath, appreciating their support. "First, I need to go talk to the one I have trapped in here. We will worry about training after we get to blueberry Academy tomorrow. I still don't know how things are going to work there, but whatever we can't train for there, we will train for here."

I frowned, trying to gauge his sincerity. "Why are you telling me this? What's your angle, Garon?"

He shrugged, a casual gesture that belied the gravity of his words. "Let's just say I'm curious to see if you can actually pull it off. You have potential, Landon. More than I expected. And besides, if you fail, it won't matter much to me. I'll be long gone."

I leaned forward, my eyes locking onto his. "What do you mean, gone? You're not planning to stay in this place forever, are you?"

Garon's smirk widened. "Oh, I'll be around. But if you die, then this place will no longer exist. This world you have is unique, and it is one of the reasons why we, the Endbringers, are after you. Think about the power that you wield! You are the only person in history to ever be able to catch a human. Combine that with the incredible potential your system has, and just imagine how easy you could bring this world, and the ones in every other time line to their knees!"

I could see what he meant, but I wasn't looking to rule the world, or use Prisma as an otherworldly jail more than I was. Rather than engage the man, I ignored his statement and asked another question.

"Why will the second invasion take so long? You got to me pretty fast, so I kind of assumed the next person to come would be much sooner than six months, right?"

"Maybe if it was just one person coming, but if a low rank system fails the first time, they will send an Elimination Squad. These consist of five people; three low ranks from AA to JJ, one mid rank from KK to OO, and finally a high rank from QQ to UU. Now that you have met me, I am sure that you get what the ranks mean. The lower the letter your Cryo, the stronger abilities that you get! As you can see, as the CC System holder, I am nothing to a high ranked PP System like yours, but just how do you think that you and this world will fair against what is coming?"

I frowned, absorbing the gravity of Garon's words. "Elimination Squad, huh? Sounds like a real party. But what about you? What's your place in all of this now?"

Garon leaned back, his smirk fading slightly as his expression turned more serious. "My place is here, in your little pocket dimension. I’ll watch and wait, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll survive long enough for us to have another chat. But don’t think I’m rooting for you, Landon. I’m simply intrigued by your potential. I’d love to see how far you can go before you meet your inevitable end."

I stood up, feeling the weight of his words. "I guess we’ll find out. But don’t underestimate me, Garon. I’m not just fighting for myself. I’m fighting for everyone who believes in me, everyone who’s counting on me."

Garon chuckled again, but there was a note of respect in his voice. "We'll see, Landon. We'll see."

I turned and walked away, my mind racing with plans and strategies. Six months to prepare for an Elimination Squad—five powerful adversaries who would be much stronger than Garon. I had a lot of work to do.