The Twins - Part 4

"Are you sure?" Nova asked dubiously.

"Well not really," Julian immediately admitted. "I just wanted to give you a scare that I might have won the bet."

"Tch, figures," Nova grunted, annoyed that he did feel a small twinge of anxiety.

"Anyways, why are you entertaining the brats?" Nova questioned, in an attempt to change the topic.

"Haha, you totally fell for it didn't you?" Julian laughed at his partner.

Ignoring the jab, Nova urged him, "So?"

"Alright, it's because they found me first when I was cloaking myself and tried to rob me," Julian replied, wiping away some tears of laughter in the process.

Nova's eye dilated in shock, "They tracked you through the spatial layers?"

"Oh no, I wasn't that hard on them, I only masked my presence and blinked a couple of times."

"Hmm, so what are you going to do with them?" Nova asked as he stared at the twins.

"I'll have to see, they are an interesting pair," Julian replied with a strange twinkle in his eyes.

Seeing that Nova's eye constricted, he thought to himself 'poor brats, they got caught by this old coot.'

"Well, I'm going to get going," Nova said as the distortion started to close.

"By- wait before you go I bought you some drinks," Julian hurriedly said.

"I don't want your leftovers you scammer," Nova huffed as his eye finally blinked out of sight. The air stilled and calm returned to the alley.

'Any moment now,' Julian thought as he restarted his odd tune. A few seconds later, the leftover drinks in the bag were teleported away, leaving an empty bag.

Julian chuckled softly. 'Heh, such a big softie.'

In an unknown place in the wilderness, amongst the trees, a humongous black shadow was seen resting. In front of the black figure, a couple of drinks were stacked neatly in a row. The name 'Polikiwiganate' printed in bright yellow letters along the front of the drinks.

A red eye with grey sclera looked at the drinks curiously. 'Those humans think of the weirdest things to make,' Nova mused as he studied the drinks. Utilising his gift, the cups started to levitate. Blinking the lids out of existence, Nova carefully moved the green liquid out and combined them to form a small sphere. Condemning the cups to the same fate as the lids, Nova stared at the sphere as a small twinge of displeasure ran through him. 'Tch, that jerk couldn't even be bothered to make sure I had enough. Well, whatever.'

Nova moved the sphere into his giant maw and swallowed the measly drink. 'It's sweet,' thought Nova. 'I guess it's time I get moving, I'm definitely not letting that idiot win the bet,' Nova thought determinedly. The last time Julian had won a bet against him, he bragged about it for a decade. Nova was not going to live through that hell again no matter the cost. Nova rose up and then.....there was no then. He disappeared into the spatial layers once more to resume the search for the perfect hosts.

----

In an unspecified location, it came across as if Hell had manifested on Earth. Actually, Hell would look better, the place was completely desolate, vacant of all life. Black rocky outcrops jutted out of the ground giving some variety to the dreary backdrop.

Under one of these outcrops of rock, a couple of forms could be seen. Their figures were hazy and constantly changing shape as if they were fluctuating between the different states of matter.

"The guard dog is on the move," a garbled voice sounded out.

"Keep an eye on it," A grating voice replied.

"Affirmative," the first voice replied.

"Any progress on finding the perfect hosts?" The grating voice asked the other beings.

A muffled voice sounded out "Not yet, we are still searching and keeping tabs on the supremes."

"Find the perfect hosts, they must be taken care of before they can grow." The grating voice said in a monotone.

"Affirmative," the other beings replied before vanishing.

The owner of the grating voice stayed still as if deep in thought, and then finally it also vanished, leaving the area completely silent.

----

In Aster city, the sun was finally rising as the sky slowly turned orange. The metropolis started to come to life as another busy day was ahead of it. Back in the alley, Julian was still humming, although it was a different tune this time. Slowly, the twins stirred. Bleary-eyed, the pair sat up and rubbed their eyes seeming confused about their surroundings.

"Morning, how was your sleep?" Julian smiled as he greeted them.