Slowly, Darkin transforms into smoke that becomes denser with every passing second.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Vickyara exclaims, marveling at her father turning into smoke, as she manages to escape from her mother’s grip that had been obstructing her view.
Vrany's face has no expression, something that seems strange.
"I won’t let you die," Darkin says, preparing to advance toward the creature that doesn’t want to waste any time finishing everyone off in the blink of an eye.
The banging on the basement door continues, growing louder with each hit. Darkin is now completely smoke, and before the beast can touch his family, he lands a punch that makes the creature roar in intense pain, causing it to stagger, blind and disoriented.
Then, in a tight, forceful embrace, Darkin makes the creature literally explode, scattering its limbs all over the space they are trapped in. Suddenly, a lightning bolt appears in the sky, cutting through the clouds, which has turned red, creating a terrifying sight. Soon after, a roar echoes throughout the entire country of Moamba, as if it were the end of the world. The entire population of the country is alarmed by the eccentric situation, and the ground begins to tremble in worrying waves, though only for a few seconds.
Darkin’s wife’s eyes immediately lock with his, and a bright glow emerges in Vrany’s eyes. She smiles when she sees her husband gradually returning to normal. Suddenly, the basement door is violently torn off as the sky screams in fury, scaring Vickyara, who was still watching her father returning to his normal state.
"Thank you, Ghuman," Darkin says as he notices the one responsible for the destruction of what had been a cell for a family of three.
"You're welcome. Get out of there, now!" Ghuman says urgently, almost worryingly.
The three leave the basement. The old man shows them a newspaper with a headline that jogs Darkin's memory. He immediately remembers the use of chips that give humans enhanced abilities, but anyone without a chip in their brain is in great danger because they are not considered Moambian citizens, and therefore have no rights related to the government.
"Won’t we need some supplies?" Darkin’s wife asks.
"Unfortunately, we don’t have time," Ghuman replies, hurrying to leave the house. "They’ll bomb this area."
"We’re going to need some form of transportation to get us out of here, urgently," Darkin says, looking at the old man.
Once again, the sky lets out its roar. Despite the terrifying atmosphere, jets and helicopters are positioning themselves, ready to launch missiles and bombs to eliminate all the Zralkies present so everything can return to normal. The four don’t take long to run directly to the garage to find a vehicle that will take them to another part of the country that is safer, at least for now, because this is only the beginning of a sequence of phased bombings throughout the country of Moamba.
Darkin starts one of the cars to head toward salvation.
The four go to ZA2, where no bombings are carried out against the Zralkies. Guided by Ghuman, they arrive at a large, beautiful house that resembles Darkin’s home.
"Welcome to ZA2. This is my house," the old man says, taking off his shirt.
"You can stay in that room," the old man says casually.
"Wow, what a beautiful house!" Vickyara says as soon as she notices the details of the house.
"Really beautiful…" Vrany agrees, looking around as though searching for something.
"How many nights will we have to stay here?" Darkin asks, worried about the situation of bombarding the entire country due to the creatures multiplying in every city of Moamba.
"Well, I don’t know yet, but we have a lot to reveal before things get too complicated for us all, though it won’t be easy, my son," Ghuman says, looking at Darkin with seriousness on his face.
"What do you mean?" Darkin immediately asks.
"Explain further," Vrany says, with a look of suspicion. "Do you know each other?"
The question seems crucial because, in truth, it was expected to be asked. In reality, Darkin doesn’t know the old man who helped him hide his nudity after escaping from the hands of the population that wanted to literally destroy him. Even so, something tells the man of smoke that he knows this old man, who might be crucial for his new phase with this unusual ability to transform into smoke.
A silence falls over them after Vrany’s question, and finally, the old man responds:
"I know you, but you don’t know me yet, and I know it sounds strange, but I am a crucial link to everything that started with the invasion of the planet Zraldonkoy. There are things beyond our understanding, including the multiverse, which everyone thought was something imagined."
"The start of the invasion of the planet Zraldonkoy was because of our resources. So I don’t understand how you fit into this story as a crucial link. Explain further," Darkin responds to the old man with some suspicion.
"Well, it’s complicated. Let’s rest first, and then we’ll talk about it in more detail, so everything becomes simple and easy to understand."
The old man heads to his room. Darkin, Vickyara, and Vrany go to the room indicated by Ghuman to at least rest, as tomorrow they will have to do something to escape the harsh reality. The child falls asleep immediately, looking like she hasn’t rested for years, her eyes swollen. Vrany, upon entering the room, arranges one of the beds in front of them, surprisingly two.
"Lie down, daughter," Vrany says, then feels a warm tear slip from her eye.
Without hesitation, Vickyara lies down and immediately falls asleep.
"Vrany, what’s going on with you?" Darkin asks, seeing his wife like this.
Her face turns downwards. Darkin approaches her calmly and slowly, turning her face toward him.
"We’ll get through this. Trust me. We’ll overcome all of this. I love you!" Darkin says before he can see her eyes.
The man is stunned when he sees his beloved’s eyes, which are yellow-golden.
"Devil! What is this?" the man of smoke says, stepping back two steps.
To be continued...