THE ONE CALLED J

It begins!!!

Around 7 am the next day, Dave and Max were walking towards school from home, they appeared to be in a deep conversation.

"Why don't we just take the school bus?" Max sighs.

"The same reason we don't use our entourages to travel," Dave replies.

"Come on, Sensei is just being unhinged, I don't see our a little convenience will stop us from being able to perceive movements underground."

"He already explained how it works, movement is a language and like every other language, it's communicated in speeches, when a speech is about to begin, it is relayed to the ground even up to the end of the speech and there's no way we can understand the speech from the ground if we aren't accustomed to it."

"But we have been doing this crap for years, and we are still no different from when we started."

"Sensei said it took him at least fifteen years before he was able to make his first correct prediction from listening to the ground, he said his blindness helped him a lot."

"I think I'd rather have my eyes than that ability."

"But you gotta admit, it's pretty cool, right?

"It's cool, alright but nothing compared to the one called J," came Joshua's voice as he suddenly approaches them.

"And the most narcissistic guy in the world is back," Max sighs as he wore a disapproving look. "What do you want?"

"It's more of where are we going," Joshua says as he removes a cup from his pocket, it was the same cup that he had taken from the restaurant the previous night.

"A big burger soda cup, really?" Max had a disappointed look on his face.

"Not just any big burgers soda cup, look at the place it was served, Moscow! In Russia."

"So you went all the way to Russia to get a drink," Max's look of disappointment had worsened. "You know there's a big burger branch right."

"Yeah I know but calm, I didn't go to Russia."

"Riiiiiiiighhhht," Max shook his head.

"Max," Dave says holding his friend. "Take a chill pill, will you?" He turns towards Joshua. "Why are you showing us that cup?"

"I saw that shadow entourage guy yesterday, it was more of we spoke, he dropped this, we was in a big burgers eatery, he probably didn't realize he left this there but I am guessing he should have noticed by now, he struck me as the meticulous type, Eva is in Moscow, that's where we have to go next."

"Great, I will just go back home, tell my Mom and Dad I am on my way to Russia to go find someone who doesn't exist!" There was an edge of sarcasm in Max's voice.

"Good," Joshua says to him. "Just don't tell your parents, I don't think they will be in support of you going."

"You think?!."

"Enough!" Dave says as he looks at Joshua. "You are determined to go with or without us, aren't you?"

"You know me," Joshua says as he turns his back at the both of them. "Eva was the first person who understood me, while Vincent's girl rumor was going on, I was getting shunned both from home and Jack wasn't exactly making things easy for me at home, she was the one who was there for me if she hadn't come, I don't know what I would have done because I knew I was on the verge of losing it, she helped me in my dark times," Joshua says as he turns his attention back towards them. "And now, it's time I help her in hers."

Terry was stinking, he was close to the refuse bins beside Big Burgers; the eatery he and Joshua had a conversation last night. He had a frantic look on his face, he was hysterical, his entourage was directly behind him. "When I went back to my shadow realm, I realized I wasn't with the cup I was sipping soda from, I had come back to the restaurant hoping it'd still be there but it was gone, and I have been searching all night for it in the refuse bins but to no avail, Madame won't take it lightly with me when she figures out I have failed her, what the f**k do I do."

"Are you the new garbage guy? I thought you guys usually brought a truck," came an oddly feminine voice, Terry recognized that voice almost immediately, it was the waitress he had taken her number from yesterday, she was right behind him, she was holding a bag which was filled with refuse, she had come to dump it into the refuse bin.

"Thought it'd do a little good improvising," Terry answers her without turning his back.

"Your voice, it sounds familiar," the waitress says as she began to draw nearer. "I have heard it somewhere, just can remember where? Can you just turn?"

"Can't believe I have to do this," Terry sighs as a black portal suddenly appeared before him, he put his hand inside. A black portal had appeared behind the waitress, it taps her lightly.

She was startled as she quickly jumped forward, she turns behind her to see who had tapped her but there was nobody there, she looked back at the spot where she had seen Terry but he too was gone.

"Are people just disappearing on me or am I imagining it?" She says as she put her hand to her head.

"That was close," Terry says as he reappears on the roof of the Big Burgers building as he begins to walk forward. "I have made a fatal mistake on my path by bringing the cup from that eatery, I didn't know J would have picked on that, this is why I hate witty foes, they prey on your every mistake.  I can't afford to anger Madame the more, I have to find a way to fix my mistake, she will be expecting me now, I have to go," Terry ends as his entourage forms at his right side, he takes a wallet from his right pocket, he throws it up, he saw the Shadow of the wallet cast on the roof. He smiles to himself as he and his entourage suddenly vanish in the shadow.

Joshua had gotten to school just in time for assembly, normally, he would have skipped it but he felt since he wouldn't be coming to school for a while after, it wouldn't hurt just attending this one. Max and Dave had agreed to come with him, Max was against them going but Dave had convinced him. Joshua had told them he was going to school to go and give Jolie back her phone which he was yet to return from yesterday. Dave and Max had also said they were going to go and say their farewells to Master Sensei. They agreed to meet up at Joshua's place afterward.

Joshua didn't want to wait for after the assembly as he has already gotten tired and bored of it. The principal had taken the microphone, as he was about to address the school, Joshua brought out his entourage, cloaking his body, everything came to a standstill. The principal had suddenly stood motionless where he was, same for every student around, they were each frozen in their positions. Joshua got to his feet as he walked towards Jolie, Jolie was by her friends who were all dressed in cheerleader outfits, they were indeed all quite beautiful but they all paled in comparison to Jolie.

Joshua grabbed Jolie lightly by her waist, his entourage held him by his right shoulder and within the twinkling of an eye, Joshua and Jolie were directly behind the school.

Joshua's entourage had vanished and as a result, the miasma cloak around his body had vanished. Jolie was shocked to see Joshua in front of her, what was more surprising was that she had remembered herself cheering in the assembly hall but in the next moment, she found herself outside and Joshua was right before her.

"J, Did you use your entourage?" She asks.

"Yeah, I did," Joshua removes her phone from his pocket as he extends it to her, she accepted it reluctantly, she was still wondering what was going on. "I am going on a little trip to Russia, just thought I'd return this to you."

"Russia?!" Jolie was surprised. "Of all places, you can't be serious."

"I am not going there cause I want, I am going cause I have to," Joshua tells her. "I know you can't remember, no one actually can but Eva used to be here, you two used to speak a lot, she was beautiful, funny and amazing.  She was the one who told me to give you a chance and that was how I was able to see I was wrong and you are such a wonderful person."

"I thought you said Eva was your little sister," Jolie says.

"I sorta lied about that, she was my best friend, actually my only friend until yesterday," Joshua continues. "But now, she's gone, she's kidnapped and she's probably in a tough place right now, I was there when she got abducted but I couldn't do s**t but now, there's more I can do that I couldn't.  Shee has done so much for me but I could never repay the favor, that's why I have to go rescue her, it's the only way I can forgive myself."

"So lemme get this straight," Jolie says motioning for him to calm down as she extends her arm. "Someone with a similar ability to yours and my Dad has probably erased this Eva girl, whosever she is, from everyone's memory."

"Sounds about right."

"And you are going to go and rescue her, and that someone is probably the one who sent that sicko that nearly tried to kill us at the restaurant whom I am guessing isn't the only one you have had to face."

"That's right too."

"And you are going to face her without any backup."

"Come on," Joshua smiles. "I am the J, I am the backup but I let some peeps tag over in case my foes need weaker opponents for a fair matchup," He ends with his most arrogant smile.

"In other words, you saying Dave and Max are coming with you."

"Yep," Joshua replies her.

"I am pretty sure there's nothing I can say to convince you out of this but promise me something, J," she says as she looks tenderly into Joshua's eyes.

"What?" Joshua asked as he looked back at her, he could see it in Jolie's eyes, she liked him, it would devastate her if she heard he died.

"That you would come back alive with this Eva girl whosever she is."

"I am the J," Joshua grins arrogantly. "I always come back alive."

"I know," she says as she pulls herself in closer and kisses Joshua sensually on the lips, Joshua was caught by surprise as he stood still for a moment, after a while, Jolie broke out from the kiss. "When you come back, you are taking me on another date, this time, it shouldn't involve your and Pop's weird ability."

"It won't," Joshua grins. Joshua's grin was the last thing Jolie saw as she suddenly finds herself at the place she was sitting on before Joshua had whisked her out.

"J," she thought to herself with a solemn expression. "Be careful."

Joshua's body was cloaked in miasma, his entourage was holding him tightly as it ran towards his house. When Joshua had arrived in front of a high-rise building, his entourage suddenly vanished, Joshua had won the apartment on one of the middle floors of the building from Hendrickson. It was where he had crashed the night before and the night before that night.

"Ben and Max should be here any moment from now," Joshua thought to himself.

"You know you aren't the only one who has god business to settle in Russia," came a deep familiar voice behind him, Joshua easily recognized that voice, it belonged to Leon.

"Leon," Joshua smiled as he turns towards him. "What's up?"

"Kronk could still be alive and Madame would have many minions, you need all the allies you can get, I am coming with you, not just to take down Madame but also to rescue my old man."

"Jeez man," Joshua smiles. "This is why young chaps like you should get an education so you can behave more of a literate, all I asked was a simple question what's up, how the hell does your answer correlate with that."

"You bastard," Leon growled as he bit his lower lip.

"Take a chill pill, bro," Joshua smiles at him. "of course, I am letting you come with, it'd be nice to have a clown on the road."

Leon couldn't take it anymore, his entourage had already materialized beside him and his body was cloaked in silver miasma. "You wanna go?" He asks with a grave expression.

Joshua shut up immediately but he still couldn't help but grin sheepishly at him.

Max and Dave arrived at Dave's apartment, Sensei had his legs crossed as he sat directly on the ground, he was naked as he maintained a yoga pose, there were a few lotions beside him including a shampoo(the object that Hendrickson had used to switch locations with the day before).

"I didn't need to see that," Max shielded his eyes from looking at Sensei's body.

"In twenty years, you'd wish to have a body like mine," Sensei smiles lightly as he adopts a more serious expression. "With your sudden appearance here, I see you want to go on a trip to Russia with the first Primordial, to rescue this so-called Eva girl."

"How did you know?" Dave was shocked.

"It's not only the ground that my blindness has helped me get accustomed to, but I also possess a great affinity to the air, and the atmospheric make-up in each area is distinct and unique, no two environments have the same atmospheric condition, I have traveled around the world trying to inhale and digest the atmospheric smells from different locations, the one on the man I fought valiantly yesterday..."

"You mean the one you r***d," Max interjected.

"I don't recall a forceful penetration of my genitals..."

"Jeez, it's just a saying, I don't mean it literally," Max had a flustered expression on his face.

"You were saying something, Sensei about atmospheric smells and locations," Dave says, trying to restore balance to the room.

"The smell I sniffed from Jin wasn't just the one around here, roughly about six hours ago, he had flown from Russia into here, more specifically, Moscow, Moscow has changed a lot since the time I was there so the name for the environment I recall that place being might be different now," Sensei continues. "He must have gotten the job from his employer in Moscow and he had come here to execute it, if that Eva girl is anywhere, it would surely be at that place."

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Dave asks, he was trying his best to keep himself cool.

"Isn't it obvious? Because you never asked, the value of an answer is known when a question is raised, without a question, there's no need for an answer."

"And you thought you were wise," Max whispers to Dave.

"Shut up," Dave replies him sharply as he walks towards the door. "I am going to Russia, I have to save Eva, I don't know why but there was also an attempt on J's life, it's like these goons are trying to capture Primordials, the unknown sibling, the one who went against her siblings in the stories you read to me as a child is surely the one they call Madame, that must have been why Eva was captured, she was the third Primordial, I only just realized this and now, I know the urgency of this mission, I have to save her not just because I have an emotional attachment towards her but because of the fate of the universe."

"Omniverse, the entire world is not just a universe, it's an Omniverse with higher dimensional planes and infinite realms embedded in it, in this journey, you shall find out many truths and lies," Sensei says still meditating. "And I hope you will be able to differentiate between the two causes that would determine if you would survive or not."

"Even if I can't, I have my friends with me," Dave says. "And I can rely on them, I am going to come back alive and stronger than ever."

"I hope your faith manifests into reality."

"It will," Dave says as he leaves the building hastily. Max had run after him.

"Bro, why are you pissed?" Max asks.

"Sensei is an annoying piece of s**t," Dave retorted. "I had more entourage battles yesterday in my life than the entirety of this year combined and he couldn't even bother to tell me that very useful piece of information when I was practically risking my life for this girl."

"You can't blame Sensei," Max sighs. "I don't know if you have noticed but Sensei doesn't want you to go, he thinks you are playing right into Madame's hand. I don't think she even knew you were a Primordial until yesterday."

"According to the fables he told me, the Primordials were in charge of the well-being of creation, one of which was certainly protection, if I can't protect those who are dear to me, how can I protect those who are not?"

"You sort of don't have the full powers the first Crescent Primordial have."

"But I have something and I am willing to risk it along with my life to make the world a better place even if it's by just a little margin."

"I could never get through to you, could I?"

"Nope," Dave smiles at him. "You can never," He says as his entourage suddenly appears right behind him.

"It's one of the reasons I always admired you," Max thought as he looked at Dave. "You always fought hard for what you believe is right and never compromise even if it will cost you your life, that's why I will always follow you because you are a man of integrity and if I die, I am glad it's by your side, you gave me something worth living for."

"Max," Dave said as his entourage had fully formed and was holding him lightly. "Are you going to keep daydreaming or are you gonna get on?"

"Sorry, fam, was lost in thought for a while," Max says as he enclosed his body in his aura and was held by the other arm of his entourage.

Immediately, the entourage sped away.

Sensei sighed as the lines on his face formed to show sadness. Almost immediately, the shampoo which was on the floor vanished, and standing at the spot where the shampoo was Hendrickson, not too far from him was his entourage which immediately vanished.

"David had dropped it here yesterday, I thought it was a lotion due to the lovely scent but sensing the smell if, from your hair, I am glad you came just in time before I rubbed it all over my body," Sensei ends with a chuckle.

"I had wanted to switch my body with one of my finished shampoos, I thought that one was but I guess I was wrong, Thanks for helping me pick it up but if you don't mind, I will be taking my leave now." Hendrickson ends with a warm smile as his entourage was beginning to form at his right-hand side.

"Wait," Sensei said, causing Hendrickson to turn in his direction. "I need your help."