The ship emerged into the dark of the night, far from the battle. The boys stepped out. Kwaru Village, Retro's sanctuary, was now visible. The dome of shimmering energy pulsed faintly, a beacon of complex digital power.
"We made it," Umar grunted.
"Yeah. Now for Retro," Ahmad said, walking up to the dome.
As they approached the village, the air hummed with unseen energy. Digital sentinels, glowing constructs of light and code, patrolled the perimeter. They were beautiful, yet ominous.
Suddenly, a voice, synthesized and layered with metallic echoes, boomed from invisible speakers surrounding the village. "Unauthorized access detected. Nucrons state your purpose."
A figure materialized on top of the glowing dome, a human silhouette wreathed in a digital form, Retro was not physically there . It was a digital construct of himself, his glasses glinting, his form radiating an immense, complex energy.
"Retro!" Ahmad yelled. "its Ahmad. I'm here with Nasir, Sadiq and Umar." the figure remained silent.
"Ayah whats his power level?" Ahmad whispered into the comms.
"Nucron identified and scanned. Estimated power level: B level 400." Ayah answered. The boys eyes widened in shock.
"please note that this is a rough estimation, I can give you a final figure if you can get to his real physical form." Ayah added.
"nice, so he can be even stronger." Sadiq stated, worried
The constructs around the dome shimmered, their weapons systems locking onto the boys. Retro's voice, colder now, less human, replied. "I do recognise you Nucron, we use to be… friends. But there are no friends in this new world. Only data, and threats. You are a threat. State your purpose, or be deleted."
"Besides, the big one was always my enemy." he added, glaring at Umar. They all turned to look at Umar, he was always bullying Retro in school, adding to his rage and anger.
Ahmad stepped forward. "Retro! Forget about Umar! We're not here to threaten you! And he isn't here to bully you, we're here to help"
"Help?" Retro scoffed, a flicker of red light in his glasses. "You've come to integrate. To conform. This place is a sanctuary. My Kingdom, my Empire. Protected by my will."
Digital constructs shifted around the dome. Their weapons hummed, locking onto the boys. Ahmad felt the heat radiating from his own body, a mirror to his rising frustration.
"this isn't right Retro, whatever it is you're trying to do, we can help. We can fight for freedom together." Sadiq said
"Freedom is control," Retro stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "And I have achieved it. Here, the weak are protected. The chaotic are disciplined. I am the system. I am the order."
He gestured, and a wave of shimmering data streams pulsed from the dome, forming a complex network around the boys. Energy began to crackle from the constructs.
"He's going to attack!" Nasir warned, shifting his stance.
"We no wan fight you, Fuhad!" Umar roared, slamming a fist into the ground, a show of force that cracked the dry earth but did not deter Retro.
"Then leave," Retro commanded. "Or become part of the system."
Ahmad knew reasoning was useless. The cold, mechanical edge in Retro's voice, the unblinking stare – this wasn't the Fuhad they knew.
"No choice then. We force him to listen."
Retro pointed, and the constructs descended. They moved with silent, deadly precision, their energy weapons charging. The glowing dome pulsed brighter.
"Umar, Break their line!" Ahmad yelled, fire flaring around his hands.
Umar plunged his fists into the ground. A thick, curving wall of reinforced earth erupted, weaving outwards, attempting to ensnare two of the incoming constructs. The constructs slammed into it, their energy blasts impacting the rock, but the wall held.
Sadiq, seeing the constructs' energy signatures, extended his water manipulation. He pulled moisture from the air, concentrating it into a high-pressure mist, then aimed it at the constructs. The mist was not just water; it was an EMP, disrupting the delicate digital systems. The constructs flickered, some sparking violently, their movements faltering.
"They're electrical!" Sadiq yelled, pushing his power. "Water will short circuit them!"
Nasir moved. He became a blur, a whirlwind of focused air. He darted between the constructs, using precise gusts to disrupt their balance, sending them spinning, then following with concentrated blasts that tore at their internal systems, exploiting the vulnerability Sadiq had created. Two constructs fell, disintegrating into showers of static.
Retro, from above, finally showed a flicker of emotion – annoyance. "Inefficient. Adapting."
He slammed his hand down, and the entire dome pulsed. New constructs, larger and more robust, materialized from the shimmering energy, moving to replace the fallen. These hummed with a deeper, more stable energy. And then, the ground beneath the boys vibrated. Digital tendrils of light snaked from the earth, attempting to ensnare their legs.
"He dey hack the ground!" Umar bellowed, trying to stomp away the glowing lines.
Ahmad saw his opening. Retro was distracted, pouring his power into the constructs and the digital field.
"Nasir, give me a lift! Sadiq, Umar, hold them!" he commanded.
Nasir nodded. He created a powerful updraft beneath Ahmad, propelling him skyward. Ahmad soared, flames trailing behind him, directly towards Retro.
Sadiq unleashed a torrent of water, a liquid wall that slammed into the new wave of constructs, attempting to drown their systems. Umar roared, pulling up massive chunks of earth, hurling them at the approaching digital foes, determined to break their relentless advance.
Ahmad landed on the dome, the energy field humming against his suit. Retro spun, his eyes flaring. "Threat detected. Eliminating."
Digital spikes, razor-sharp and glowing, shot from the dome, attempting to impale Ahmad. He burned through them, his flames incinerating the constructs before they reached him. He charged Retro, a blazing meteor.
Retro raised his hands, and a massive firewall of pure data, shimmering green and blue, erupted between them. Ahmad slammed into it, his flames struggling against the digital barrier. The Nuragen-enhanced heat of his fire pushed back, slowly melting the digital wall.
"Retro! Stop this!" Ahmad screamed, pushing through the last of the barrier. He reached out, not to strike, but to grab Retro.
Retro's eyes, devoid of recognition, flashed with cold logic. "Intervention unsuccessful. Eliminating anomaly." He channeled energy, and his hands glowed, preparing a devastating blast.
"You cannot defeat the system," Retro's voice boomed as he launched the concentrated beam of raw digital energy.
Ahmad met it with a blast of his own, the two powers clashing in a searing display of light and heat. The ground shook. The impact released a large wave of light and energy, pushing Ahmad back and blinding him temporarily.
The shockwave dissipated the nearby constructs and energy barriers including Retro's construct of himself. The dome flickered as its energy depleted. Ahmad stood ontop, panting heavily and wondering what was going.
"That wasn't him?" he asked himself. Just then, the dome opened at the bottom near Umar.
"The dome just opened up here. He's telling us to come in." Umar said. The others converged at the opening, taking caution as they came closer.
"Then lets go." Ahmad said as he walked in first and the others followed.
They walked slowly through the small town, it was advanced, clean and full of people as they saw in the satellite video. Mud huts hooked up with A.C units and solar inverters, digitally constructed roads and walk ways, and guards everywhere but they didn't engage. The people were hiding in their homes, peeping through the windows to see what was going, the boys remained vigilant as they walked through the town. At the center of the town was a digitally constructed building surrounded by guards and sentinels, they stopped at the foot of the building, standing firm.
The doors opened and a battalion of sentinels marched out in two straight lines, they marched up to the boys and stood at attention, then turned to face each other. Then walked out, Retro. Covered in a dark gray cloak with a hood over his head and a mask on his face, his digital aura sparking around him as his cloak flowed behind as he walked. His eyes glowed a bright blue, sharp and emotionless as the reflection shined through his glasses. Retro had not only changed, he had evolved.
"Nucron identified, analysis complete. Fuhad Abdullahi, Retro. Power level: B level 450. Hostile." Ayah stated.
The boys looked at each other, slight nervousness crossing their faces but they remained composed. Retro continued to walk as his constructs knelt to him, his face unreadable with the mask on his face, only the glare from eyes visible. Retro finally walked up to them and stood firmly.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice letting out a digitized effect.
"We're here to help you." Ahmad answered.
"I don't need your help, nor do I want it." Retro said.
"No you need help, this isn't normal Retro." Ahmad retorted.
"Even as you stand here, in the middle of my utopia, you say I'm the one who needs help?" Retro queired, his eyebrow raised.
"This isn't right. You've taken over a small town and turned into your personal asylum, along with the people who were living here." Umar stated.
"These people have never known luxury like this before. They lived in abject poverty, barely eating and sleeping under roofs that let water sleep through when it rained." Retro explained.
"Now, they have A.C's to fight the heat and heaters to fight the cold. A reliable power supply and a good clean road network for transporting themselves and their goods from point A to Point B. and all they do all that knowing their safety is guaranteed. This what we all dream to have, all possible because of me." he continued, his voice getting louder.
"And what rules do have in place when someone goes against you? When someone tries to take your tech outside of this 'sanctuary' you've created." Sadiq asked as he stepped forward.
Retro scoffed. "well they get punished and if they won't comply after that… they will be deleted." he answered, his eyebrow twitching. The boys' eyes widened in shock, Ahmad's expression quickly shifting to anger.
"you kill them?" Ahmad asked, his voice quiet.
Retro looked him dead in the eyes, a smile forming under his mask. "only the ones who refuse to reform." His sentinels standing up and surrounding them, their eyes glowing.
Ahmad's anger flared, his fist igniting in a ball of fire. The others tensed up as well, Retro had gone to far and now its time to stop him.
"This isn't a kingdom nor is it a sanctuary…" Ahmad said.
"... its just a way for you to escape your fears and insecurities." Sadiq completed, summoning water from a tank.
"But now its time for you to face reality…" Nasir said, his stance firm.
"... and answer for your sins!" Umar roared, launching a massive boulder as Ahmad jumped out the way. Retro, with a quick motion, generated digital wings and zipped out of the way, then reappeared directly in front of Umar and slammed his fist into his chest. Umar grunted, stumbling back. Retro was stronger than expected. Retro then followed up with a massive energy blast, sending Umar crashing into a hut.
Sadiq tried to ensnare Retro with a water whip. Retro countered by creating a solid digital barrier, the whip splashing uselessly against it. He then generated razor-sharp digital blades that spun around him, deflecting Nasir's air attacks. Retro's sentinels swooped in, their lances firing powerful and precise blasts at Sadiq and Nasir. The stabbing pain from the blasts brought them to their knees, the sentinels standing over them. Ahmad came up behind them, a huge build up of fire all over him with his eyes glowing a bright red, all fueled by his anger. He fired an explosive blast, Nasir pushed Sadiq out of the way with an air blast while simultaneously repelling himself into the air. The sentinels were destroyed in the fire, their digital composition burning out into the air. Retro stood firm, observing Ahmad show of power.
"Impressive… but your playing in my house, and I can make thousands of them." he said, eyes glowing brighter. Just then dozens of sentinels rose from the ground, bigger, heavily armoured with more weapons.
"This isn't just my sanctuary, this is my kingdom, my empire. Welcome… to DIMENSION RETRO." Retro said, his eyes glowing. A construct began to form in the air, the streams of code shimmering as they crafted a figure. A Phoenix, screeching into life as its form completed, it fired a blast from its mouth, the boys jumped out of the way but felt the force and power behind the blast.
Retro jumped on the Phoenix's back as it flew to him, their eyes glowing in harmony as their power synced. The Phoenix took off in a burst of air, flying around the dome as it screeched and Retro basked in his own glory. He had the boys cornered, outnumbered and overpowered. This was their toughest challenge yet, and they were unsure of how to face it.
The boys stood firm, breathing heavily as they looked at the army before them. Retro stood atop the phoenix as it hover over the digital army, its wings flapping as digital aura flowed around it.
"How do we get passed that?" Umar asked, frustrated.
"By finding a weakness." Ahmad said, looking around.
"we're in their house, why would they let any weakness just laying around here?" Nasir asked.
"wait, have you noticed that the water here is very… guarded?" Sadiq asked. The others looked around, noticing the river that was covered with a glass shield, rain was channeled using funnels throughout the dome and the constructs kept away from anything that held water.
"there's our weakness. Lets go!" Umar said.
"stop, don't just jump in. We have a way to beat him, now lets make sure it works." Ahmad intercepted, stepping to back of the group.
"we need to start by breaking that glass, I need as much water as I can gather." Sadiq said.
"yeah, but we'll have to get through them first." Ahmad answered.
"draw water from that tank there before we get to the river." Umar suggested as he pointed to a water tank close by. Sadiq nodded and with a gesture with his hand, drew all the water from the tank and circled it around him, Avatar style.
"alright, Nas, stay infront and cover Sadiq so he can attack effectively. Umar will drop them while they're disoriented and I'll finish the job." he instructed.
"oya now." they all answered, getting into position.
"use small attacks to save energy… we're going to need it." Ahmad added as he took a firm stance. The sentinels prepared their weapons to attack, their power surging slowly.
The boys launched their attack with their formation strong. The first sentinel fired a powerful blast from his lance, the boys evaded the attack, temporarily dissolving their formation but swiftly jumping back into place. Nasir got close and launched an air-punch to the sentinels face, Sadiq followed up with a splash of water on the sentinel. The second the water made contact, the sentinel began to short circuit and sparks flew everywhere. Umar jumped in with a large boulder from the ground and buried the sentinel with it, defeating it.
Silence fell in the dome, Retro's eyes wide with shock as he observed his sentinels defeat but quickly masked it with indifference. He gestured his hand and the other sentinels attacked. The boys now knew their plan would work and it was time to put it to work.
Sadiq jumped into the air, propelled by Nasir, he spread the water all over the sentinels. As the water affected them, Nasir and Ahmad attacked, landing few blows or blasts to destroy each sentinel. Umar also launched himself into the air, over the sentinels and crashed himself into the glass covering the river. Retro looked on, frustrated. He commanded the Phoenix and it fired a powerful blast from his mouth, Umar jumped out the pond just in time as blast came in and destroyed even more of the glass, infuriating Retro. Umar then pulled out a large boulder and launched it at Retro, but the boulder was immediately disintegrated before it could make contact.
The river summoned out of the glass shield, Sadiq concentrated as he controlled the water and with a swift gesture, he launched the water at the remaining sentinels, washing them away as they disintegrated from the flood. Retro screamed in anger, his aura surging even higher.
The water dispersed, leaving the open field behind for the final battle to begin. The boys stood ready at their positions as Retro hovered on his Phoenix glaring at them.
"do you actually think you can defeat me?" he asked, his voice sharp.
"it's not too late Retro. You can still stop this." Ahmad yelled.
"it is too late. It is too late for you. It is too late for all of you. I see that now." Retro contemplated.
"I refuse to waste anymore of my time on you, so I will give this one chance… you can walk out of here, alive and move on… or stay hear and die knowing you can never measure to Nucron like me!" Retro stated, he and the Phoenix fired a massive blast a combined blast at the boys that rippled through the ground and some building in the distance as the boys barely evaded.
The ground vibrated violently beneath their feet as Retro and Phoenix's combined blast tore through the air, ripping a fiery trench where the boys had stood moments before. Dust and debris exploded skyward, temporarily obscuring the scene.
"Surround him!" Ahmad yelled.
Umar was the first to react, slamming his large fist into the earth. The ground groaned, and two colossal earthen spikes burst from the soil, aiming straight for Phoenix.
Phoenix roared, and its eyes glowed red. It unleashed a torrent of energy blasts from its forearms, pulverizing Umar's spikes into dust that rained down around them. Umar, ducking behind a hastily formed rock wall, felt the concussive force vibrate through his bones.
Meanwhile, Ahmad's fists blazing with raw fire and using the distraction. He lunged forward, a fiery meteor aimed directly at Retro. Retro, however, was quicker. He rotated Phoenix, bringing its tail — armed with a series of rapidly spinning blades — sweeping towards Ahmad. Ahmad pulled back just in time, the scorching heat of the blades grazing his cheek. Then he shot a flurry of of fire balls, temporarily blinding Retro. He landed back on the ground, the others coming together as they also recovered. The flames cleared, Retro remained unfazed atop his construct.
"Now what?" Umar asked, breathing heavily.
"We stick to the plan, water is their weakness. If we can get him off that thing, it'll be alittle easier for us." Ahmad answered, wiping blood from his cheek.
"Sado, you need to summon all the water you can to take him down, we'll keep him distracted." he instructed.
Sadiq nodded. "Understood." as he prepared himself. The loud shriek of Phoenix rang through the dome as it landed on the ground, the boys stood firm and unwavered. It fired another blast at them, the boys' fatigue showing as they barely evaded the blast. Umar made a gesture with hands, the earth beneath the Phoenix opened slightly and closed again just the Phoenix's legs fell inside, trapping it. Nasir followed up with speed and got up close to the digital beast and began punching it viciously in the face with his air-reinforced fists. The Phoenix shrieked with the impact of each blow.
Retro jumped and fired a blast at Nasir, sending him flying across the battlefield and crashing to ground with a loud thud. The Phoenix regained its wits and spotted Umar running towards them, its eyes glowed brighter along with its body, shivering as charged up its power and then fired an even bigger digital blast than ever before. Umar saw the blast coming and reinforced his body with hard rocks and concrete as he still ran towards them. The blast hit hard, the makeshift armour barely holding as the force of the digital energy blew through him. Umar tried with all his strength but the blast was too strong, he fell back, tumbling multiple times before crashing into a hut.
As the dust settled, a smug smile could be seen from Retro's mask but before he could do anything, a loud boom echoed and a red light flashed above him with a wave of intense heat. Ahmad had charged himself to the max, engulfed in flames, his suit tearing apart and his eyes glaring in a bright light as he prepared a huge fire blast. Retro instinctively constructed a shield to protect himself, but in the distance, Sadiq had gathered up all the water he could as he smirked at Retro. He launched all the water towards him, a big shadow covering Retro as the water came in and washed over him and his Phoenix. Electricity sparked everywhere, the Phoenix shrieked in pain, Retro was also in pain but held on as it jerked around. Just as the water flowed away, Ahmad fired the devastating blast with a powerful roar, Retro was still able to generate a shield but it disintegrated on contact. The Phoenix's screams echoed followed by the massive explosions, covering the entire dome in Ahmad's red light.
The flames smoldered around the town, the large crater at the center of the town. Ahmad opened his eyes opened slightly, his head spinning and ears ringing. He turns to his side, his nauseous gaze landing on the destruction his last attack had generated. Sadiq staggered to him and helped him stand.
"that was… big." Sadiq said as he put Ahmad's around his shoulder.
"it… it was… too much." Ahmad murmured. Umar and Nasir limped over, bruised and battered.
"where is he?" Nasir asked looking around at the damage.
"There." Sadiq answered, pointing at the crater. They all walked, limped and hobled slowly into the crator towards the fallen Retro. They stood over him, he body curled in a ball, burned, battered and bruised.
"He de alive so?" Umar asked.
"Yes, he's breathing." Nasir answered.
"Toh what now?" Sadiq asked. Static from the comms started sounding, with a voice coming from the other end.
"Boys!… boys… can you… can you here me?" G's voice finally coming through.
"Boys!… report!" G commanded.
"G, we're here." Ahmad answered.
"What the hell happened there? We've been trying to reach you since." G complained.
"Sorry sir. The dome must have blocked our signal when we walked in. I'm surprised we didn't noticed." Sadiq explained.
"what happened in the dome? Did you reach the boy?" G asked.
"Yes sir. We reached him but… he wasn't really forthcoming. So we had fight." Ahmad answered, still barely able to stand.
"We manage to defeat him but we need something that can hold him and also some help for the people here." he added.
"And us too." Umar added.
"Ok, I'm coming with a ship. Stay where you are watch over each other. Over and out." G instructed. The boys obeyed, there victory was clear but the cost was high and the uncertainties just as many as before, but they were ready and they knew there was a lot more to come.