Hero Falls Kingdom Rises

by Farhat Kidwai

  “What do you think happens next?” A reporter asked Baraka.

  He responded. “I don’t really know. No one knows. We all have read stories about the wrath of angry Gods. I think we are about to witness it with our own eyes.”

  Chapter 5

  Omega landed at the military base in Somalia at the border with Kenya.

  “Where would I find the Al-Harih?” Omega yelled at the first armed office he ran into.

  “Umm... Hi. I will take you to the Commander. He can help you.” Officer was scared. The story of Omega’s actions at the village had reached the post. Omega walked into the Commander’s office inside the base.

  “Hello Mr. Omega. How can I help you?” Commander asked.

  “I need to know where I can find Al-Harih?” Omega asked.

  “Their operation is spread all over Somalia. Are you looking for anything specific? Maybe it will help me guide you to the right location.” Commander requested additional information

  “They took something really precious to me. Members of my family. Two lion cubs. Where would they keep them?” Omega inquired.

  “Oh. I am so sorry Sir. If they smuggled them out of Kenya I think I might know where they might be. They usually keep the animals at their main camp. I can show you on the map.” Commander pointed to the location on the map and that is all Omega needed. “Can we help you recover them?”

  “No. You will slow me down. I will handle it myself.” This was personal for Omega and didn’t need anyone else involved.

  “Of course, Sir. Good luck!” Commander heard the anger in Omega’s voice and understood it was not wise to get involved.

  Omega immediately flew towards the location provided by the Commander. As Omega got closer members of Al-Harih identified him and opened fire. They knew what he was there for. The bullets didn’t have any effect on him other than enrage him even further. As he landed he shot a ray of light from his hands and burned holes through the body of the terrorists shooting at him.

  “I need to see your leader. NOW!!” Omega yelled so loudly at a pitch that it caused everyone to fall on the ground. They became disoriented and with ringing in their ears. It took them a little bit to get their wits back.

  “You are looking for me. I am the leader. What do you want?” the leader of the camp came out to address Omega.

  “The lion cubs you took from Kenya. They belong to me. Hand them over and I might let you guys live.” Omega was fuming in anger.

  “Why do you care about those cubs?” The leader inquired.

  “They are family to me. If you hurt them none of you will get out alive.” Omega warned them.

  “Take it easy. We didn’t know they were important to you. We have two cubs here we got from Kenya. We were about to ship them out to Saudi royal family. You got here in time. We have taken good care of them” Al-Harih leader had seen what Omega had already done to some of his men. The cubs were not worth dying for.

  “Bring them out. Hurry up!” The leader yelled at his men to bring the cubs out.

  The men ran inside to bring the cubs out. Omega saw the cubs being carried out to in a cage. They looked really scared from all the gun fire earlier and were grabbing onto each other for comfort. As soon as they saw Omega in the distance their fear turned to joy. They started making squealing noises and trying to get out of the cage.

  The second they put the cage on the ground Omega ripped the cage door right off and picked up the cubs. The cubs were overjoyed and could not contain themselves. They squeaked and jumped all over Omega. They tried to hold on to him to make sure he wouldn’t leave them here.

  “I am so sorry.” The leader told Omega. “They obviously know you. If we knew that we would have never accepted them.”

  “That shouldn’t matter. You should never steal babies from their families.” Omega wasn’t satisfied with their answer.

  “You don’t understand. We are in the middle of a war. War to take overthrow the tyrannical government and bring peace to the country. War requires money and this is the best source of income we have. We don’t want to do this but we have to win this war. Somalia is one of the poorest places in the world. We are just trying to survive.” Leader tried to explain the situation his point of view. He looked at Al-Harih as freedom fighters and not a terrorist group.

  “I don’t care about your mission but taking these animals makes you my personal enemy. Give me a good reason not to wipe out Al-Harih? Choose your answer very carefully.” Omega warned them.

  “What do you want from us? Why don’t you just tell us? Because I don’t have a good answer. We do what is needed to survive,” The leader responded.

  “You want to survive and stay alive? Instead of hurting animals become their protector in this area. Make up for what you have done and I may spare your lives. You answer will decide what happens next.” Omega gave them the ultimatum.

  “That is not much of a choice. If I say no we all die so the answer is whatever you want it to be. If we do this we are cutting all our income sources. And can you guarantee that if we give up our cause for yours we won’t get slaughtered by the army?” Leader wanted some assurances before making a commitment.

  “Become the protector of animals and kill anyone who tries to hunt or poach them. Leave the rest to me. You will be under my protection. No government will ever bother you as long as you stick to the mission.” Omega had gone rogue. There wasn’t a government in the region who would want to go against Omega. This was completely out of character as he had lived all of his life helping UN stop these types to threats.

  “How will we be funded? This will require a lot of resources. Will you give us the money?” the leader inquired.

  “I will take care of that. Just remember if you deviate from the mission at any point I will personally come back rain hell on you.” Omega warned them.

  “Since the choice is to follow you or die I guess it’s not much of a choice. At least we are giving up one noble cause for another.” Leader accepted the deal.

  “You get to start over your lives today. Just don’t let me down.” Omega wrapped the cubs in his arms. He had a ball made of energy emanating from his hands to protect them on the flight back to the Sanctuary. Seeing Omega’s powers up close made Al-Harih members understand that they made the right choice.

  Omega landed at the Sanctuary and Kira and the cubs ran up to him. They were overjoyed to see that he was holding the missing cubs in his arms. The cubs ran up to Kira and she was overcome with emotion and started hugging and cleaning her cubs. She never thought she would ever see them again. It was an emotions reunion and the entire Sanctuary staff and members of the media were in tears. Kira showed her gratitude by resting her head over Omega’s shoulder. She had been through a lot of heartbreak in recent weeks. She will never see Roman again but could take solace in the fact that all their cubs were alive and safe.

  As Omega walked out to the secured area the reporters were lined up to interview him.

  “What did you do to the poachers who stole the cubs?” One of the reporters asked.

  “I gave them the choice to dedicate their lives to protecting animals or get wiped out. They made the choice to live. Now their only job is to protect animals in this region,” Omega replied.

  “Who are these poachers?” Another reporter followed up.

  “Al-Harih.” Omega’s response resulted in a gasp from the reporters.

  “But they are terrorists. They have killed thousands. How could you align with them?” A reporter asked with disgust in his tone.

  “I am coming to the realization that humans are generally all rotten. Their past doesn’t matter anymore. They get to have a fresh start and live their lives redeeming themselves. As long as they stay true to the cause they are better than the rest of you. In return for their services they will be under my protection I want the world to understand that attacking them would be considered a personal attack on me. I will not be merciful to anyone who gets in their way.” Omega’s resp
onse shocked the reporters.

  “You truly don’t believe that about us don’t you?” The news anchor asked.

  “I do. If you weren’t so rotten you wouldn’t tolerate a society where animals are treated this way. You destroy their homes. You torture and kill innocent animals for pleasure. You killed my friend, my brother Roman. He never did anything to any humans. And now his family has to live in the sanctuary to survive. You destroyed their family.” Omega started to raise his voice. He had not had time to process the loss of Roman because of the missing cubs.

  “We are sorry for your loss. Seems like you guys were very close.” Another reporter tried to sympathize.

  “Sorry is a useless emotion. It doesn’t change anything. It won’t bring Roman back. It will not stop others from going out there and killing more innocent animals. Actions need to have consequences or your kind will never change. I will make sure those responsible for killing Roman suffer the same fate.” Omega flew off in anger.

  He landed at the Kenyan Foreign Minister’s office and inquired, “I need to know who killed Roman?”

  “Mr. Omega, Sir. We can’t give you that name if you are going to kill them. You have to understand our situation,” the minister replied.

  “That is not the right answer. Try again.” Omega lifted his arm and the minister could see a light on his palm.

  The minister didn’t want to find out what that light could do. “I will call the tourism minister and get that information for you right away. Please put that away.” The minister changed his tune instantly. It was not worth dying for.

  They didn’t know the name of the hunter because he came in under an alias but were able to get Omega the office address of Safari club in Dallas Texas that sold that hunting permit.

  Omega flew off straight to Dallas with revenge on his mind. He caught the people at the Safari Club by surprise. No one at the office suspected that Omega would show up there. They knew they were in trouble once they saw him at their door. The security guard at the entrance instinctively unloaded his pistol on Omega. Omega grabbed the empty gun from his hand and stabbed him with the barrel right through his neck with brute force. The guard fell to the ground as a pool of blood started to form on the floor.

  Omega turned to the female receptionist and asked her, “Who killed Roman?”

  “I have no idea.” She replied in a shaky voice.

  Omega grabbed her by the head and crushed her skull like an egg. Pieces of her brain matter mixed with blood were scattered all over the reception desk and floor.

  He turned to next closest employee and asked him the same question.

  “I am looking it up. Please don’t kill me. I just work here,” the employee responded in a shaky voice.

  The hunter’s name was Bill Durban. A wealthy individual who lived in Paradise Valley in Arizona.

  As Omega started to leave a voice in the background addressed him. “She really didn’t know. She was just a receptionist. She was innocent but you killed her anyway. You are a monster.” It was another employee at the office.

  “No one here is innocent. You know what this place does. It was her choice to be part of this. She deserved it. So do you.” Omega responded by ripping her throat out with his hand. On his way out he burnt the place down as the rest of the employees ran out to safety.

  Omega couldn’t get to Bill’s house fast enough. Bill had already reached out to the police to ask for protection. His mansion on the mountain was surrounded by police with semi-automatic weapons and armored trucks. News crews were covering the every from every angle.

  As Omega landed the police chief announced using a loud-speaker. “We know why you are here. Turn around and leave immediately. Do not take law into your own hands.”

  “You are in no position to tell me what to do. Hand over Bill Durban and I will let the rest of you live. This is not your fight,” Omega replied.

  “We can’t do that. You need to respect the laws of this country like everyone else. Turn around and walk away,” the chief reasserted his position.

  “You fucking idiots never learn.” Omega picked up one of the armored trucks as the officers opened fire. He dumped it on three officers killing them immediately. Then he walked over to the chief and stuck his hands in the middle of his chest and ripped is rib cage open like a window. The chief feel to his knees. You could see his beating heart and his lungs fighting for air. The ruthlessness with which Omega killed the police chief was a statement. He wanted humans to understand that they need to stop defying him.

  “Is this guy worth your life?” Omega asked the rest of the officers.

  Remaining officers dropped their weapons and came out with their hands up. “Go grab Bill and his family and bring them out.” Omega instructed the officers. He wanted to hand out the punishment out in the open for the world to see through the eyes of the media.

  The officers dragged Bill, his wife and their two kids out into the front yard. Omega was finally face to face with the one who took Roman away from him.

  “I killed him. It was all me. Take my life. Please leave my family alone. They had nothing to do with this.” Bill pleaded with Omega.

  “They could have stopped you at any point. But they didn’t. Why should I show mercy now?” Omega responded angrily as he walked towards him.

  “Please have mercy. They are innocent,” Bill kept pleading.

  The kids tried their best to get away but the officers pinned them down. The officers were not willing to defy Omega’s orders.

  “Tell me how he died? How did you kill him? These would be your last words so no point lying. I may spare their lives if you are truthful,” Omega asked.

  “I shot him with an arrow. He was supposed to die right away but he ran off. We searched for him everywhere but couldn’t find him. We were finally able to locate him next day. I shot him to end is suffering. It was not my intention to make him suffer. I swear.” Bill tried to show remorse.

  “What did you do with his body?” Omega asked.

  “We took it to our camp. The guys there cut his head off and removed his skin. They gave the meat to the local village. He fed a lot of hungry families.” Bill replied crying. This was something big game hunters always used as a positive outcome from their kills.

  “Do you have it in the house? His head and skin?” Omega was getting angrier with every answer.

  “Yes. It is mounted on the wall. You can have it. You can have anything you want. Just spare our lives. I will never do it again.” Bill offered the trophy as a bargain for his life.

  “A life for a life in the only thing I will accept.” Omega was fuming.

  “Please. I am sorry. I really am.” Bill pleaded some more.

  “You are not sorry. You are scared but you are not sorry” Omega spoke as he ripped Bill’s head off from his neck. He made the whole family watch this to make sure they understand the pain that Roman’s family had to go through. His wife fell to the ground in tears. The kids stood there in shock, traumatized from the event. Omega had no mercy or sympathy left for any of them.

  He stuck Bill’s head on a metal pole that was part of an art piece in the yard. “No one will take this down. It will stay here as my trophy. If you try to take this down I will put your head right next to his.” Omega told everyone watching including the family. “You could have stopped him but you didn’t. Now you will live in this house and look at it every day as a reminder of your role in Roman’s death.”

  He asked the officers to go inside and find Roman’s remains. It took a while but the officers finally brought out Roman’s preserved head and fur. Omega fell to his knees held on to what remained of his friend. It was his final goodbye. Omega was never going to forgive himself for leaving Roman to go to Amazon. He finally put the remains on the ground and used the fire from his hands light it on fire. He watched it burn and thought it would give him closure but it didn’t.

  Omega knew he had to go back to Kenya to see Kira and the cubs one more time. He wanted t
o let them know that he took revenge for the Roman’s death. Maybe Kira understood him but the cubs were just happy to see him. He could take comfort in the fact that they were ready to move on. The cubs would soon get bigger and stronger and would eventually be ready to take Roman’s place in the savannah. Maybe that was the part that scared him the most. The same thing could happen to them in a few years. It would take a lot more than killing one hunter to keep them safe from humans.

  “There is a call for you from Elliot,” Baraka informed Omega.

  “What is going on with you? Have you gone mad? You can’t start killing people like that. There is an arrest warrant out for you in America. The UN is asking that you turn yourself in. We had been working for days to negotiate with them. The Arizona legislature has finally agreed to have you come in for a Senate hearing if you go in voluntarily. They want to give you a chance to tell your side of the story.” Elliot informed Omega.

  “And what if I don’t?” Omega was defiant.

  “There is no need to act that way. Just go there and explain it from your side. It can’t make the situation any worse than it already is. It’s not like they can keep you against your will,” Elliot replied.

  “I will consider it,” Omega replied.

  “Please come home after that. I know you have gone through a lot lately. We are all worried about you. Don’t shut us out. Let us be there for you. We are your family.” Elliot was worried about Omega getting to the point of no return if he kept going like this.

  “I know. I will be home soon.” Omega ended the call on that note and decided to go to Phoenix, Arizona for the hearing. He needed to get some stuff off of his chest and this may serve as a good platform.

  He stopped by the Al-Harih camp on the way to make sure they were going to do their part to keep the animals safe.

  “Once we give our word we will honor it. You don’t have to worry about us doing our part. Just make sure we the money to keep up the mission,” the leader assured Omega.

  Omega flew out somewhere for an hour or so and came back with a handful for diamonds. Either he had just dug them out from the ground or created them himself. It really didn’t matter to the Al-Harih since it would be enough to keep them going for a while.