by Vee Bosse
“Your mission objectives are flawed. General Schilling has been killed by the Eastern Latitude’s fleet leader. This information was reported and confirmed by Professor Mary Hubris.” The android’s information left Politek and Dogvale confused and stunned in disbelief while Revenant’s head twitched to the side in curiosity.
“Android, shut the hell up. Don’t resist us, or you will only bring forward your death sentence, traitor,” Politek declared as Dogvale gathered his aura, seemingly preparing to attack.
“Revenant, you and another unknown accomplice are responsible for the mass murder of the citizens of the Australian Commonwealth 23 years ago. My new mission objectives are currently in synchronization with this rebel group’s ambitions, and I regret to inform you that your life is to be terminated in the name of protecting the citizens of this world. Please prepare for elimination.”
The android’s bold words startled Revenant, and for once, he allowed a surprised look to come on his face.
“Ha...hahaha!! Silly robot girl!” he shouted, as he took a stance that resembled a cheetah that was about to pounce on its prey. Just as he was ready to strike the android down, his eyes widened as he realized that it was Politek’s hand that was suddenly right in front of his face. “Oh shit,” he muttered as the same fog that had put most of the rebel crew to sleep entered Revenant’s nasal passages, causing him to lose consciousness and fall to the ground without delay.
“Revenant, as your superior, I cannot allow you to continue your operating role as commander until I investigate the claims the android has brought against you thoroughly.” Politek turned to face Sabrina next, as Dogvale gave his superior a focused look of compliance. “Dogvale, if everything I know about Sabrina Philippi is true, then we will need to go all out to subdue her. Please activate Titanium Gollum Mode.”
Dogvale leapt into the air after Politek had shouted her order, ready to do anything it took to fulfill his government role dutifully. Sabrina stood without flinching as she witnessed the ordinary stature of the government’s family man transform into one of a massive giant. She analyzed with her optical sensors the exterior of his body, which was shown to be made of diamond infused titanium.
“Engaging hostile,” she announced with no trepidation as she launched herself into midair, landing on the giant’s metallic arm. Politek was shocked to see the android so gracefully leap over the water from the ship’s bow, while also being nimble enough to land and free-run all the way up Dogvale’s arm to his shoulder.
“No good!” announced Dogvale as he clenched his opposite fist, and lunged it at himself to crush the android like a bug. But just as Sabrina appeared to be doomed, she was able to leap away off from his forearm at the last possible millisecond, using small boosters on her feet and shoulders to give her force to stay suspened in mid-air above the commander giant.
“You’re finished,” she said as she held out the palm of her right hand to reveal about twenty very miniscule cubes that were able to launch themselves at the giant below.
“EXPLOSION SEQUENCE...begin.” Sabrina’s slight and deadpan smile crept back onto her face as Dogvale and Politek both grimaced at the sight of her tiny cubes.
“Do you understand how strong diamond titanium is, idiot robot?” asked Politek, who wasn’t concerned about the fact that the cubes were able to clamp down and attach themselves to Dogvale’s impossibly strong exterior. Dogvale raised his giant fist to swat the cubes away when Politek witnessed an explosion unlike anything she had seen before.
A small shockwave hit the ship that caused it to violently rock in the waves as Politek fell hard into the sand from the explosion’s frightening force. Dogvale’s eyes appeared glazed over as his battered titanium arm fell to the waters below, causing a giant splash.
“Explosive destruction level, maximum. Golden Radiance bombs, activated,” said Sabrina as she landed with grace on the ground in front of Politek, who leapt to her feet with haste.
“Dogvale?” Politek asked as the critically injured commander’s pure metallic body fell to its knees, almost on top of the hovership.
“Hubris...her diamond experiments that she did on us elites...they had too many weaknesses, Politek.” Dogvale suddenly coughed up blood as he turned to gaze at his superior before losing consciousness. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the explosion marks going almost completely through him, including through where his heart was. Sabrina turned around as Politek stood still in shock and awe, noticing that the defeated commander was about to come crashing down face-first into the hovership, crushing the entire team in the process. Sabrina took action, showing ungodly strength by leaping into the air, and unleashing a powerful kick into the titanium giant that was barely enough to send him crashing into the water just to the side of the ship.
Melbourne’s entire coastline was rocked with violent waves, as Sabrina turned around once again to confront Vice General Rothschild Politek.
“I’m going to make an executive decision as Vice General of the Western Latitude Haven Island Base Fleet. Sabrina Phillipi, you are to be executed immediately under the charge of murdering an elite commander.” Politek made her mind up as she gathered a pitch-black energy into the palm of her hand. Sabrina’s smile still hadn’t subsided though, as she readied herself for whatever attack the top elite of the Western Latitude had in store for her.
“Haven Island was obliterated. Your title is invalid and nullified,” Sabrina declared as the Vice General gave her a look of intense hate, taking position to launch the dark energy directly her way.
“Dark Energy Techni,” Revenant had decided not to let Politek finish her sentence. Sabrina’s empty smile suddenly faded as she witnessed Politek instantly, and without warning, turn into a stone statue. Even more to her surprise, she saw a long black staff crash into her dark energy ball, sending it flying into a distant tree. The tree itself seemed to slowly disappear into a small black hole, hinting at the Vice General’s awesome power. She looked down in curiosity to notice that Revenant’s hand was clasped around her now-stone leg.
“Phillipi, you’ve proven to be very useful...thank you.” Revenant’s arrogant words were still not enough to faze the fearless android as she noticed a figure appear out of the corner of her eye, holding the black staff that had jolted Politek's energy sphere away. He wore a black fedora that had a white ribbon tied around its base, just like Reylina had described when she mentioned the appearance of Revenant’s assistant during the Australian Night of Tragedy.
“Are you the one who acted as his accomplice?” asked Sabrina, gazing at the person of mystery whose fedora managed to cover his eyes. He wore a formal black and white business suit with a loose fitting black tie that was flapping in the wind haphazardly. With a carefree demeanor, he turned to face Revenant as he intentionally ignored Sabrina’s question.
“Do you want me to stick around and finish em’?” he boldly asked.
“No, just Politek. The others should be imprisoned and forced to kill each other off...that would amuse me more,” the commander declared as the one with the fedora nodded in approval, proceeding to swing back a long black cane with a white marble stripe at the end of it. Revenant always likened the staff to an oversized magician’s wand.
“You...it was YOU!” yelled Reylina from the ship’s deck above, catching the attention of the two hostiles in surprise.
Melas had also woken up just in time to see the ones that Reylina instantly recognized as being the demons that haunted her nightmares night after night. She looked around the deck in desperation at the group who had also just managed to wake up, seeing the one they wanted to kill in plain sight before them. Now fully awake once more, Revenant let out a sigh of exasperation as he took out his silver skull lighter. Dre suddenly snapped awake when she noticed him pulling out his cigs.
“They’re awake already. Politek’s sleeping technique either has weakened over time, or they are just incredibly strong all of the sudden, Dylan,” said Revenant, addressing
his accomplice. Sabrina was still standing in front of Revenant when the team locked eyes on Dylan as he sprung forward with his staff which seemed to somehow expand, extending out to deliver a killing blow to the petrified Politek. The staff seemed to possess unparalleled power since it connected with the Vice General’s stone head, and its force caused her entire stone body to shatter into hundreds of small pieces. “You bitch. I told you that I would return the favor.” The entire team became mortified at such a sight.
“Jigsaw Staff still works great...the job’s done then. Message me if you need anything” said Dylan with a barely visible smile that was similar to Sabrina’s human-like grin. Just as Dylan had retracted his staff back into an elegant magician’s wand form once more, Sabrina darted over to Dylan with her hand almost instantly transforming into an unusual-looking set of sparking needles and circuitry.
“ASSIMILATION SEQUENCE,” Sabrina declared when suddenly, Dylan slapped his hands on both ends of his shortened Jigsaw Staff, causing it to disappear like a folding accordion. At the moment his hands clapped together, he disappeared instantly, seemingly teleporting away.
Sabrina’s arm was launched where Dylan was a split second before, and the sudden surprise of his disappearance caused Sabrina to lose her balance, falling elbow first into the sand below. Melas darted in front of Reylina in sudden panic, gazing at the crumbled pile of stone that was a top government elite just moments ago. To his chagrin, the rest of the team who were admittedly anxious at the sight of such unbounded power, launched themselves forward into the sand below with a bolstering sense of courage.
“Wait! Stop! Don’t you understand? That was a vice general they just took down with absolutely no effort!! She outranked Revenant by at least three levels, and they dispatched her like she was nothing! You guys aren’t ready for this fight yet!” Melas attempted to scream reason at the team while Reylina fell to her knees in tears, overcome with a sudden sense of despair.
“I shouldn’t have asked you guys to fight for me...this was selfish. Please! Turn back,” Reylina said as the team looked their way from the sand below. Derek suddenly pulled out the same tablet device that Reylina had been using to operate the ship.
“We decided this on the way to Hubris’ base. The name of our group is...The Resistance. Wait for us in the distance,” He tapped a couple of buttons on the screen, and the ship began to accelerate in the opposite direction towards the sea. Reylina and Melas stood speechless as Derek tossed the tablet to the ground recklessly, after setting the ship’s autopilot to stop at a certain distance that he determined to be far enough away to avoid taking damage. “Damn...there’s no going back now.”
Chapter Eight
How the World Became Despair
Revenant gained distance from the group by gliding backwards over the sand as Sabrina regained her footing, letting a trace of annoyance seep into her demeanor. Christian clenched his teeth together as he had suddenly felt a surge of bitterness like he had never felt before, as the rest of the team similarly began to feel overtaken by the urge to get revenge for the thousands of their fellow prisoners he had sent to the afterlife with one small tap of a button.
“Tell us right now, before we attack you...why have you murdered thousands of people?” Christian asked as they all stood in silence, feeling their powerful auras bubbling up inside of them.
Revenant took another drag of his cigarette, fighting the urge to show his usually sadistic smile. “I did it because that’s how a good soldier of the Western Latitude carries out his orders. All of the people I have killed over these last few decades, I did on orders from the government. Even wiping out Australia’s population was something my government asked me to carry out.”
Winkle stepped forward with a furious look on her face. “Tell us why the government gave you those orders then?!”
“Why not. Australia was close to joining with the Eastern Latitude to form an alliance. Couldn’t have that now, could we? So unfortunately, the people of Kangaroo Land paid the price for their government’s insolence. But now that I think about it, the continent had to go either way. If they had sided with us or stayed neutral, the Eastern Latitude probably would have killed them eventually themselves. Try not to hate me for what was inevitable.”
“And what about Dylan Rook? Does he work for the government?” asked Haynes with a calculating and analytical demeanor.
“No, he is just a friend. He and I go way back, but I suppose he is a freelance agent. This is top secret stuff, by the way.”
Laran stepped forward to interject. “It seems that not even the ones ranked above you knew about the things you have done. I guess you carry out the government’s dirty work then?”
Revenant showed no apprehension in his reply, “Yeah, I guess you can say that about me.” The callous and smiling villain took some time to gaze at his skull lighter while his next victims continued to think of the right questions to ask before their deaths.
Haynes continued to press Revenant, eager to extract as much information as he could about the government they were up against. “Okay, so I get that you are just a soldier following orders, and that the government you seem so dedicated to obey is hell bent on becoming a complete World Government by wiping out the Eastern Latitude anyway that they can. We were imprisoned along with the thousands of others that you killed to produce a breed of super soldiers that would have Forbidden Radiance abilities cultivated...they would have strength that could likely defeat any foe. But then, I wonder, why would your directives be to kill all of us who were, honestly, mostly still harmless at that point?”
Revenant let the crazed smile come through finally, as he couldn’t help but feel amazed and surprised by the amazing analytical skills of Haynes. “Well, you have the wrong idea about why we really imprisoned you all. Professor Mary Hubris was an added perk since she had the rare expertise to turn scum like you into mindless weapons that could have been used for the benefit of the Western Latitude. But what you need to know about the Forbidden Aura that you all possess on some level is that the Great Sorrow of a half-century ago was perpetrated by a man that had killed off multitudes more people than I have in my lifetime. What did he use? Forbidden Radiance techniques. So, you see? I’m not so bad, huh? Keeping my boot on all of your throats like I have this entire time.”
Revenant took another drag of his smoker’s stick, while the group looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing his shocking revelation. Benedict stepped forward to ask the next question.
“Adel Bain...everyone knows his name, and how he was a legendary world humanitarian who tragically died in the Cataclysm of Europe. But even we young lads growing up in the Royal Wales Territory a decade ago were never told a thing about Forbidden Radiance being involved. In fact, I don’t think any of us lot had heard about Forbidden Radiance until after we had come to ourselves on Haven Island, and that was only because Derek had overheard it somehow.”
Revenant continued on, somehow without apprehension in telling them all such sensitive information. “Forbidden Radiance was the unexpected downside to the Great Enlightenment of 2019, and we didn’t even know its potential consequences until Adel Bain’s Massacre over a decade later. I’m sure you kids remember reading about the discovery of the All-Cure in 2017. It was a one in a million occurance: an exotic plant that had a shimmering gold radiance from root to blossom was discovered deep in the Amazon Wilderness of Brazil. Taxonomists and botanists were baffled and speechless by its sudden appearance. Once the world learned about the effects its sap had on human disease and overall health, people declared that it was a holy gift from god himself. Cancer, cured. Ebola, cured. Mental Illnesses of any kind, miraculously cured. That generation’s rise above such illnesses automatically carried over to their children, all the way down to us still today.”
Winkle let a burst of excitement overtake her demeanor. “Yes! I remember reading about that in school when I was really young. The dark ages when people died left and right from all kinds
of diseases ended at that moment, right?” Revenant continued on, “Correct. Two years later after the all-curing sap had been synthesized and distributed worldwide for everyone on the planet to partake of, we evolved into a state above mental illnesses such as depression and many others of the like. But in 2019, there was another large ascension: a state of enlightenment that ushered in the new age of humanity. People’s personality and sense of individualism weren’t altered or lost during this year like many had predicted, yet division among mankind remained as it always had. The difference was that we now had a true sixth sense that could have been described as a synchronization with our planet. But, a few truly gifted people developed supernatural abilities of all kinds and all natures. Some developed stronger abilities than others did, but no one could really do anything extraordinary with them at that point.”
Haynes and the rest of the group suddenly felt the entire picture coming full circle in their heads as Revenant continued on. “Then we start to notice the infamous Adel Bain emerging a decade after that. Especially gifted with what used to be called ‘the Golden Radiance’ at a level that no one had come close to reaching prior to that point. People could barely wield the unique and rare abilities that had been brought forth nearly ten years prior, but Bain eventually was able to influence his local weather. Soon, he could control the weather completely at his will. Lands that had been stricken with drought for centuries came to know vast amounts of rain as Adel travelled the world over, turning this planet into humanity’s best friend.”
The commander appeared to be enjoying his taboo conversation as he pulled out his lighter and lit another cig to satisfy his lingering cravings, considering that the days of lung cancer had died out a half-century ago. Dre continuously matched Revenant’s puff action, synchronizing her cigarette consumption with his.
“But his synchronization with the Earth didn’t stop there. He discovered the following year that he had developed the ability to control the Earth’s elements at will. He could control water and ice subconsciously. Lighting energy could be summoned from the ground and sky into the palm of his hand. The ground itself actually shifted and reformed when he emitted his aura into it. Wind seemed to also follow his commands. Many thought that god had manifested himself through this man, and that he would be the one to usher in a new era of global unity.”